Pieces of a Series
by Creek-IB-08
Summary: A story about the fall out of the season 4 finally. Here are all the pieces of my "Pieces" series in one place. If you have already read the first 10 installments when they were posted individually, then you don't need to read the first 12 chapters.
1. Pieces of an Introduction

"**Pieces" of a Series**

**A series of Bones Fanfics**

**By: Amanda**

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Disclaimer: I do not own Bones or any of the copyrighted or trademarked things mentioned in these stories. The only thing that I own is the story line and my brilliant brain. LOL.

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Spoilers: They vary from chapter to chapter, but there are specific spoilers for "The End in the Beginning" in the first chapter and general ones after that (if you know Bones well, you'll recognize them, but if not it won't ruin any surprises).

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Now for the real information … This is a compilation of all of the parts in the "Pieces" series that I'm writing. It has been suggested to me, several times now, that it would be easier for my readers if I put them all in the same place, and I am finally conceding they are probably right. If you have already read the first 10 parts of this series and enjoyed them, I recommend you favorite or add it to your alerts but you really don't have to read it again (unless you really want to). I will be posting any new installments here though, not individually as I have in the past. I hope this pleases all my fans.

Thanks,

Amanda


	2. Falling to Pieces

**Falling to Pieces**

**A Bones fanfiction**

**By Amanda**

**Tag and spoilers for "The End in the Beginning"**

**No copyright infringement intended. I don't own the characters or show or it would have ended differently. Lol.**

**Word Count: 5152**

*~BONES~*

As she hit the delete button undoing the past five hours worth of writing, Dr. Temperance Brennan heard a noise coming from the bed of Seeley Booth. At first she paid it no heed, after all most patients that had been in a coma twitched or opened an unseeing eye or groaned and it meant nothing. The first few times she had seen movement of any kind or heard the slightest noise, she would bound out of the uncomfortable chair and rush to his side only to be disappointed. When she recognized distinguishable words fall from his lips she could barely control the overwhelming urge to yell out or cry or something. Instead, she walked as calmly as she could the four steps to his side and examined him.

"Seemed so real …" made its way from his lips again and she hardly recognized the weak voice for that of her partner. Even after the Kenton incident he hadn't sounded so weak.

Needing to assure him, as much as herself, that he was ok she resorted to facts. "The surgery was successful. You had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. You have been in a coma for four days."

"Who are you?" he asked and her heart broke. He didn't remember her? How could he not remember her after everything they had been through together; with everything they meant to one another.

"You – you don't remember me?" she asked trying desperately to keep her voice from breaking. At the shake of his head, she put on the bravest face she could muster and even managed a small smile to try and reassure him. "That's ok. Don't worry about that right now. It is not uncommon to experience amnesia after brain surgery. I should just go get the doctor and tell him you are awake. Do you need anything before I go?"

"Some water would be good" Booth said almost shyly.

Bones simply nodded while she poured water from the pitcher into the cup next to the bed. She grabbed a straw and held it to his mouth for him to sip. When he was done, she set the cup back on the table and left the room quickly. She was losing her grip on her emotions and this time Booth wasn't there to hold her together.

Walking briskly down the hall to the nurse's station she dealt with the business aspect as quickly as possible. She couldn't let anyone see her cry. "Is Dr. King on duty? Either he or the doctor on call needs to be informed that Agent Booth has just woken up. And you should also inform them that, that Agent B-booth is suffering from amnesia." That being said, she turned and practically ran to the back stairwell. It was late enough that she could go there and not be disturbed.

*~BONES~*

As soon as she closed the door, Bones slid to the ground her back resting against the wall and head on her knees. She couldn't hold the torrent of tears back any longer. As she sat there she found herself picturing how her life would be turned upside down and stomped on if he did not regain his memory.

She had never said it out loud to anyone, even herself, but she was, well she wasn't sure but she thought she was in love with Seeley Booth. That was the real reason she had asked him to father her child. That way she would always have a piece of him and he would always be in her life in some way. Regardless of what she said, she knew that Booth would never be able to step back and have nothing to do with his own child. That way, even if their partnership ended or they had a falling out, she would still be able to see him if only a couple times a month for a few minutes at a time.

Not only that, but on a professional level her life would change drastically. She doubted that any agent she would be paired up with after Booth would allow her to be as involved in cases or would be willing to listen to her ideas. A shudder ran through her as she realized that should Booth not regain his memory and thus not remain her partner; the most likely choice for a replacement would be Agent Perotta.

As she sat there her thoughts turned from the nightmare that would likely become her future to memories of the past four years. She laughed in spite of herself at some of the memories that flitted through her mind at lightning speed. Slowly, the tears running down her face started to subside. How long had she been sitting there pitying herself? Booth needed her now, even if he didn't know who she was. Pulling herself up she wiped her face and headed to the nearest ladies' room to wash the evidence of her breakdown from her face.

Feeling slightly better she made her way back towards Booth's room. She knew she should call the others and let them know that Booth was awake, but she wanted more facts before she talked to any of them. She knew that as soon as they heard it was her, she would be bombarded with questions. Besides, the more facts she knew, the more she hoped to distract them from her reactions, especially Angela.

*~BONES~*

As she neared the door to the room, she heard the voices of Booth and Dr. King and decided to wait in the hall for them to finish up.

"You are only lucky man Agent Booth. That Dr. Brennan has been here since you first came in. as a matter of fact, I don't think she's left the room longer than two hours total in the four and a half days you've been here" she could hear the doctor say and she blushed just a little. When Booth didn't ask who 'Dr. Brennan' was, she assumed that Dr. King had explained already that it was her.

A short time later the doctor stepped out of the room closing the door behind him. "Dr. King, aside from the amnesia, how is he doing?"

"Well his brain waves seem normal. He hasn't appeared to lose any mobility or other faculties. In short, he will be fine. As a matter of fact, provided that the scans later today come back clean, he should be able to be released by the end of the week."

Brennan smiled briefly at the good report before addressing the one thing she feared most. "And the amnesia? How extensive is it? Do you think it will be permanent?"

Dr. King took a moment to study the woman in front of him for a moment before answering. She was definitely an amazing woman. She had spent the past four and a half days in the hospital and he knew from the nursing staff that she had hardly slept or eaten in that time, and yet she was still stunning. He thought her eyes looked a little puffy and red around the edges, but those were the only outward signs of her distress. Her voice, while soft, was steady as steel and she had her shoulders squared ready to accept and deal with the worst case scenario, alone no less. Mentally shaking his head to bring his focus back to the questions at hand he sighed before answering.

"At the moment I can't tell you much. I would suggest you make a list of names of the important people in his life and important events to go over with him when he is feeling up to it. Pictures also help often times. I do not believe that it will be permanent, but it is hard to say at this point. We will know more later in the week."

"Thank you doctor. I will be sure to make that list soon." With a determined nod of the head and a deep breath, Bones walked past the doctor and into her partner's room. "Hi Booth" she said quietly. "The doctor told me that he told you who I am, at least my name. He also said that physically you are fine and can probably go home later this week."

"Yeah, he told me the same. He also mentioned that you were my partner?"

"Yes" she breathed, "We solve murders together with my team, 'the squints' as you call them. We have also become pretty good friends in the four years we have worked together."

His only response was a contemplative nod. Bones couldn't decide if the look on his face was a result of him committing what had just been said to memory or trying to dredge up memories based on the newly received information. "Dr. King also suggested that when you are feeling up to it, we should go over a list of people and events from your life to gage what you remember and try to jog your memory. You look tired. You should get some rest. I will be here when you wake up."

"What are you going to do?" he asked groggily.

"I am going to get started compiling a list. You are a very popular man Booth and have a lot of people in your life. You have also accomplished a lot in your life and therefore there will be many events that need to be well … remembered." Looking up she noticed that he had fallen asleep. She simply sat and watched him for a while. Although she had spent the last four days watching him sleep, this was different, now he looked alert even in slumber. She released a breathless sigh as she noted that at the very least he still had the senses from his Ranger days.

*~BONES~*

At six am Angela was awoken by the ringing of her cell phone. Seeing Bren's name on the caller ID she became instantly awake. "Bren? What happened? Are you ok?"

"I am fine Angela" Brennan replied hoping against hope that she sounded convincing enough to fool her best girl friend. "Booth woke up early this morning" she continued glancing over at his sleeping form. She had to pull the phone away from her ear and cover the phone to muffle the sound of the happy squeal that came from the artist.

"That's great! How is he?"

"Physically he is fine. He doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects of the surgery or the coma."

"You said physically. What's wrong?" Ang asked picking up on her friend's choice of words instantly.

"The doctors don't know the extent or endurance of it yet, but Booth has amnesia."

"Amnesia!' Angela screamed.

"Yes Ang, amnesia. It may not even turn out to be a big deal so could you please keep your voice down so you don't wake Booth?"

"Oh Sweetie. How bad is it? I mean it's probably just that he doesn't remember the past week or so right?" Angela asked hopefully.

"Like I said, we do not know the full extent yet."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"I don't want anyone to worry yet."

"Tell me anyways Bren. What don't you want to tell me?"

"He doesn't remember … doesn't remember _me_ Ang." Brennan said sadly.

"Oh my God! Oh Bren, I'm coming there right now."

"No don't. Not until I have a chance to talk with him again. I will be fine really. And the doctor seems to think that we should go over a list of names and events to see what he remembers. I don't want to bombard him with people. Not right now."

"Ok Sweetie" Angela agreed reluctantly, "but I'm only a phone call away if you need me for anything. Even if you just want to talk."

"Thanks Ang. I better go. I still have a lot of calls to make."

"Why don't you conference call Hodgins, Cam and Sweets? It should save time."

"Thanks I think I will. I'll talk to you soon Ang" with that she hung up and began calling the rest of their team.

*~BONES~*

"Yes Director Cullen. I'll let you know when we learn anything new." That was the third call this morning.

The call to the rest of the team had gone fairly well. They had taken the news hard but not pressed for too many details when she said 'it is still too early to know anything for certain'. To his credit Sweets had even refrained from trying to ferret out how she was feeling and giving a long explanation to the causes of amnesia.

Bones had attempted to contact Jared, but he was _still_ out of contact, as he had been since this whole thing started. She had left a message at the embassy a couple of days ago for him to call her immediately on the off chance that he would bother stopping there.

The call to Cullen had been short and to the point. Booth was out of the coma and fine physically but was suffering from a form of amnesia and they didn't have much information beyond that at the moment.

The only call left to be made Bones was still putting off. She wanted to gage how much Booth remembered about both Rebecca and Parker before she called them. Though it would break her heart if he didn't remember his little boy, she had to have a definite answer one way or the other about that before she made the call. No doubt when Parker learned his father was awake he would want to come visit, and Brennan couldn't bear it if the little boy ran in and Booth didn't know who he was. As hard as it was for her to hear him say that with absolutely no warning, she couldn't imagine what it would do to a child.

She was roused from her thoughts by the sound of Booth calling "Brennan." As long as she had insisted she hated being called 'Bones', it now felt odd and emphasized the problem to hear him calling her by her given name.

"Yes Booth? Did you need something? If you're hungry I am sure I could find you some pudding around here. Last time …" Bones stopped abruptly as she remembered that the last time he was in fact in the hospital was after that crazy woman had shot him and the Bureau had faked his death. Swallowing thickly to force the lump from her throat she tried again, "The time before last that you were in the hospital practically the only thing you would eat was the pudding."

Booth smiled lightly wishing he could remember and wondering what had happened the last time he was hospitalized to cause her to have that reaction to a simple slip of the tongue. "Water will be fine for now, thanks."

As the two sat there in a companionable silence, Booth marveled at how he could feel so comfortable around someone he didn't even remember. He felt like he could spend the rest of his life sitting here not saying a word and be content provided that she was there too.

*~BONES~*

After a while he decided to bite the bullet and see how much of his memory he had in fact lost. "Hey, did you get that list done? I think we should go over some of it."

"Sure. Would you prefer to go over the events or people first?" Bones asked as she grabbed her laptop and opened both documents she had typed early that morning.

"People" he said decisively, "which reminds me, who knows about this?" he asked waving his hand abstractly towards his head.

"At the moment, most of your family know about the surgery but not the rest, yet. I wanted to know more before I said anything to them. Other than that, your boss, our team, and our psychologist know-"

"Wait a minute; did you just say 'our psychologist'?"

"Yes. We are in partners' counseling with the FBI psychologist. It started out mandatory after … well after some stuff happened between you and my father and then we decided to keep going so he, our psychologist, could use us for research for a book. In exchange we get his help in interrogations and profiling our murderers and suspects." Bones explained finding it surprisingly hard to remain vague until after they had gone through the lists. She didn't want to drop any specific details that might compromise what he actually remembered on his own. "But as I was saying, they know about the surgery and the amnesia. I called them all this morning while you were sleeping."

"Ok. So I guess we should get started."

"I will read off names and if you recognize any of them stop me." After receiving a nod she began, "Temperance Brennan-"

"That's you!" he interjected cheerily.

Bones simply smiled before continuing, "Max Keenan, Lance Sweets, Jack Hodgins, Angela Montenegro, Camille Saroyan-"

"I know Cam. We dated for a while some time back."

Brennan had to fight back a twinge of jealousy and remind herself that he had known Cam before he met her. "That's true. You actually dated again for a short time two years ago, I think. Next name, Sam Cullen-"

"That's the director."

She nodded before continuing "Zach Addy, Parker-"

"My son!" he smiled.

Brennan grinned too and let out a breath of relief. At least he remembered his son. "Rebecca?"

"Parker's mom"

"Jared?"

"Brother, where is he anyways?"

"India, I haven't been able to contact him yet. Tessa, Caroline Julian-"

"She's a district attorney."

"Payton Perotta, Hank Lutrell-"

"We were in the Rangers together."

"Well, it looks like as far as people go, it seems you are fine up until four years ago at the most recent. Possibly five or six, but I am not sure. I don't know much about who you knew back then." Suddenly a thought occurred to her, if he remembered his son's name; the age he thought Parker was would be a good indicator of how many years he had lost. "Booth, how old is your son?"

"Parker? He is turning … 3. Why?" Booth asked trying to figure out where she was going with this.

"Well, that settles it. You are missing the last 5 years."

"How do you know?"

"Because Parker is 8 going on 9. A few months ago you were terrified he'd turn into a serial killer because he found a human finger in a raven's nest" she answered with a small laugh in her voice.

"He found a finger? What happened?"

"Nothing for him. He thought it was kind of cool. You tried to get Sweets to do a session with him. We managed to find the rest of the body and arrest the people responsible for his death. You know what; I think I should call Rebecca now. Do you feel up to a visit from a very energetic 8 year old? Or should I ask her to wait a couple of hours?"

"Doesn't he have school?"

"Not today, it's Saturday. So how much do you want me to tell her?"

"All of it I guess. And I would love for Parker to come for a visit if you can help me catch up a bit on his life before he gets here."

"Of course. Let me just make the call. Or would you rather talk to her?" At the shake of his head she dialed the number for his ex and attempted to gather her thoughts before having to inform her.

When the phone picked up, Booth strained to hear the conversation. "Hi Rebecca, its Dr. Brennan. … No, he's good actually. He woke up early this morning. He said he would love to see Parker today, if possible. … That's good. Listen there is something else I have to tell you first though. … Try not to be too alarmed, but Booth is suffering amnesia. At the moment all that we know is that he seems to be missing about the last five years. … Well, it's just an educated guess but he thinks Parker is 3, so I … yeah, he knows. … No, he doesn't at all, but the doctors think it might help to see people that he knows. … I will meet you at the nurses' station in an hour. … You too."

After Brennan hung up, she turned to see Booth watching her intently. "Rebecca said she and Parker will be here in about an hour" she informed him as she strode back to her seat. "So, what do you want to know before they get here?"

*~BONES~*

An hour later found Brennan waiting by the nurses' station for Booth's son and his mother. She had agreed to help explain the situation to Parker before he saw his dad, and she was not looking forward to it. While she had gotten considerably better, especially with Parker, she still did not know how to talk to kids very well. Just then she saw a flash of blonde curls before she felt the boy throw his arms around her waist. "Hi Dr. Bones!"

"Hello Parker. It's good to see you. Your mom and I need to talk to you before you can go see your dad, ok?" she asked hoping he would agree readily.

"Sure, but we gotta hurry!"

"Ok, hey, where's your mom?" Bones asked looking around for the conspicuously missing Rebecca.

"I'm right here. It's good to see you again Dr. Brennan. I just wish it was under better circumstances" Rebecca said as she walked up to them.

"You too Rebecca. Let's go sit over here out of the way" Bones suggested leading the way down the hall in the opposite direction of Booth's room where there were some chairs against the wall of the hall way.

"Parker, what do you know about why your dad is here?" Bones asked as a way to gage how much she had to explain.

"Daddy had something bad in his head and the doctors had to take it out" he answered slightly downcast.

"That's right. The medicine that they gave him so he would be asleep during the surgery didn't work right, so he ended up sleeping for a very long time in something called a coma. Well this morning your dad woke up, but because something is not right in his brain, either because of the medicine or the surgery, he doesn't remember anything that happened in the last five years. That means that other than what I told him about while we were waiting for you to get here, he doesn't remember anything after you were three" Bones explained to the little boy looking to Rebecca occasionally to make sure she was doing ok.

"But Dr. Bones, we didn't meet you until I was four!" the curly headed boy exclaimed.

"I know sweetie, your daddy doesn't remember me, or any of the people we work with at the Jeffersonian" Brennan responded trying to keep her voice light and free of the tears that threatened to choke her every time she thought about that little fact.

"Oh, I'm sorry Dr. Bones. … When will he remember?"

"We don't know. Soon I hope. Now do you have any questions before we go see him?" He shook his head and she nodded standing and extending her hand to the boy, "Then let's go see him!" she said with as much cheer as she could muster.

The trio walked into Booth's room with Brennan brightly announcing their approach with a "Hey Booth, there's someone here to see you!"

Booth simply stared at the two for a minute. His son was so big and looked so comfortable with his partner. He found himself wondering yet again if that's all they really were. He had a feeling that there was more to their relationship than that, but for now he would let that go. Parker looked up to Bones for reassurance before approaching Booth. At her nod and encouraging smile, he readily walked confidently over to his dad's bed and gave him a hug with a shy "Hi dad."

"Hey Bub. Why don't you come sit up here with me?" Booth suggested.

Once again Parker looked to Bones for the OK. This caused a smile to break out on Booth's face. Rebecca on the other hand was feeling a bit jealous at the fact that _her _son was looking to this other woman for guidance, but then again she herself had allowed Dr. Brennan to explain what was going on, so maybe Parker just trusted her judgment when it came to medical stuff.

"Hi Rebecca. How have you been?"

"Just fine Seeley. Better than you at least" she tried to joke. "Why don't I get out of your hair and let you two talk?" she suggested gesturing to the two Booth boys on the bed.

"Sure, we'll be here when you get back. Won't we Bub?"

"I'll come with you Rebecca. Why don't we go down to the cafeteria?" Brennan said walking out the door. Rebecca simply nodded her head slightly and followed the other woman back down the hall to the elevator.

*~BONES~*

Once they reached the cafeteria the two women got coffee and picked a table away from the main area of the room.

"I should make a few phone calls, do you mind?" Brennan asked.

"Not at all" replied the blonde woman.

"Ang, it's me."

"Bren, is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Booth's visiting with Parker at the moment so we're giving them some space."

"We? Who's we?"

"Rebecca, Parker's mom."

"OK, so do we have any updates?" Angela asked filing the little tidbit away for a future conversation when Rebecca wouldn't be around to overhear.

"Actually yes. It appears that he is missing the past five years. Cam should be happy to know that he knows who she is though" Brennan informed her friend and couldn't stop the slight edge to her words at the last announcement. "At the moment that is the only new development. Can you tell the others for me? I have to call Cullen."

"Sure thing Sweetie. Just remember I'm here if you need me."

"I know, and thanks Ang."

Hanging up Brennan glanced apologetically at Rebecca. "I just need to make one more short call" she said as she dialed the number into her phone.

"Director Cullen's Office" Cullen's secretary said picking up the phone.

"Celia, its Dr. Brennan. I need to speak with Cullen for a moment if you can squeeze me in."

Rebecca almost felt hurt that this woman, who Seeley didn't even remember, was so embedded in his life that she was the one waiting by his side through the whole ordeal and the one that was responsible for keeping his friends and boss informed. Then again it was her own fault, kind of. She and Seeley didn't love each other enough to share a life. Besides she was married now and she loved her husband. Still sometimes she couldn't help the bitterness and jealousy that Temperance Brennan evoked.

She was pulled from her musings when Brennan began speaking again. "Director Cullen I have an update. … No I don't think there has been any significant improvement, but we have managed to specify how much time is, uh, missing at the moment. … The last five years. … Yes that is a big gap, but the doctors seem confident that he should regain most if not all of his memory in time. … Well, no they did not specify a time. … Yes sir, I will let you know." Brennan hung up the phone with a deep sigh. "That man has never really liked me. I don't think he likes having me as a go between for information about Booth, but he doesn't have much of a choice if he wants any useful information" she informed her dining companion.

"Why doesn't he like you?"

"I really don't know. I think part of it has to do with my insistence on going out in the field and being included in all aspects of a case. Another part of it I think it that he still hasn't gotten over the whole shooting the senator's aid thing."

"But you and Seeley seem to make a good team and you have a high solve rate, from what I've heard" Rebecca placated.

"It doesn't matter. To him I am first and foremost a scientist and I should stay in the lab" Brennan replied with a nonchalant shrug.

*~BONES~*

An hour later the women returned to the room to find Booth and Parker talking about 'all the cool things' Parker had seen and done the last time he was at the lab. Noticing Rebecca hovering around the door he motioned to Parker, "I think it's time for you to go Bub. I'll see you soon."

"Bye Dad. See you later" Parker said giving his father a careful hug before hopping down from the bed and walking to the door and his mother. Noticing Bones down the hall a ways, Parker ran to her giving her a hug with a "Thanks Dr. Bones. See you later."

"See you later Parker. Have fun." With that and a wave at Rebecca, she made her was back to her partner's room. Poking her head in and seeing the sad look on Booth's face, she had an idea. "Hey Booth, I'm going to get us some pudding. Vanilla right? I'll be right back."

"Thanks Bones" he called after her.

"You're welcome" she said. She was half way down the hall before what he had called her registered. Turning on her heal and walking quickly back to the room she asked "What did you just call me?"

Shocked by her reaction Booth hesitantly answered, "Bones?"

"Did Parker tell you about that?" she demanded trying desperately not to get her hopes up only to have them crash down again.

"No. It just came out. I honestly don't know where it came from."

He watched as the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, or at least that he remembered, broke out across her face. Light seemed to shine from her eyes as she made her way to him and engulfed him in a hug. "Don't fight it, don't question it, just let it come back to you. You are going to be fine!" she declared.

"How do you know?"

"Because you called me Bones" she answered like it was the most blatantly obvious fact on the earth. "I'll be back in a minute. We need pudding to celebrate."

"Celebrate what?" he called after her, but as he sat waiting for her to return flashes like movie clips ran through his head. Mostly he saw glimpses of faces, some alive others not so much, but in all the clips the same basic sound track played: "…Bones." "_Don't_ call me Bones!"

*~BONES~*

**Author's note****: I couldn't remember Parker's age but I thought he was about 8 in "The Finger in the Nest" so if I'm wrong please correct me. Also, I took the liberty of making up a first name for Cullen because I couldn't remember the real one. Obviously this was inspired by "The End in the Beginning". I felt sick at the way it ended and couldn't sleep after seeing it Wednesday night, so I thought the first half of this up trying to sleep. I may do a sequel if enough people request one.**


	3. Picking Up the Pieces

**Picking up the Pieces**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

**Word Count: 4183**

*~BONES~*

When she returned, Brennan still had a devastatingly large smile on her face. She never thought it would make her so happy to hear him call her that stupid name. "So, you didn't tell me, what did you and Parker talk about?" she asked handing Booth his pudding.

"A lot of things. He said you had told him I don't remember anything that's happened since he was three, so he wanted to catch me up on everything that had happened" he laughed. "I don't think I caught half of what he said though. He was just talking far too fast. He told me all about his school and friends and the lab and squints. Apparently the first year I worked with you we were quarantined over Christmas?" he asked unsure if the story was really true.

"Yes. Zach cut into the bones of a man that had been infected with a virus and we were quarantined. You all made the best of it though. Angela, Hodgins and Zach made decorations and you and Dr. Goodman went through 'Careful Lionel's' belongings and found his fiancé. Then, on Christmas morning, you all exchanged gifts that you had made for each other" she filled in the gaps for him.

"Parker said that was a great year. He said he got the coolest toy that year."

"Yes, Zach had made a robot that responded to voice commands and he gave it to you for Parker."

As he sat in the silence that followed, Booth saw a couple still images: His son standing on the other side of a glass door holding his hand up to match his dad's, Brennan wiping tears from her cheek while talking to a dark haired woman, the look of awe on a group of people's (he assumed were the squints)faces as they saw the intricately folded bird, standing by the door of a diner holding his son while Bones waved from the bar with a smile on her face.

Bones watched his face carefully, studiously, like she would a set of remains on her lab table. His eyes held a faraway look and the corners of his mouth were just slightly pulled up in a small smile. At one point the smile dropped from his face though and was replaced with an emotion that she couldn't place. But that was not uncommon for her; she never was really good at reading facial expressions. A short while later Booth seemed to return to the present and requested that she tell him some more stories.

"Where should I start?" Bones asked. Four years was a lot of time to catch up on and so many things had happened in that time for the two of them. But resorting to logic and reason, she decided to start at the beginning of their partnership. Relationship? So she told him about being detained at the airport after coming home from a dig in Guatemala, him arresting her for shooting a murderer in the leg when he threatened to burn all the evidence, Booth refusing to let her get a gun permit, the terrorist they had stopped in the airport between her observations and his skill with a gun, Howard Epps and all the chaos he caused the team over the years from the first 'game' to stay his execution to him escaping and coming after Brennan. She laughed over the time they spent in Washington state and his over protective alpha male behavior towards all of the men in town. She recalled the case of Charlie Saunders and how Booth had helped her keep the promise made to the two foster brothers. For several hours they just sat in his room while she told him about the life he couldn't remember and she could never forget. It felt odd to talk about these things that he was so much a part of while he was unable to contribute anything.

He didn't mention the flashes he recalled, or possibly only constructed, as he heard the stories. He just absorbed them and relished in the small clips or still images that he was able to retrieve. Occasionally he would hear bits of conversations about victims and motives and weapons and bone structure and sports injuries. Usually these came with disjointed pictures of faces that he assumed went with the voice, but most of the time he couldn't place a name to the face. Eventually he decided that for the sake of his sanity, he needed to coordinate names with faces and he got an idea.

*~BONES~*

"Hey Bones, do you have any pictures of the squints?" he asked.

"Not with me why?"

"Well, it would be nice to match faces with names in my mind when you're telling me about all of them" he said simply, deciding not to mention the mental images he was seeing in case they turned out to mean nothing, or at least not what he thought.

"Let me just call Angela. I'm sure she can email some pictures to me" she said as she pulled her phone out of her purse. "Ang?" she asked as she heard the line connect, "Its Bren."

"I know who it is Sweetie. Now what's up? Is everything ok?"

"Everything is fine Ang. I just need you to email me some pictures of the team. Booth thinks it would help if he had faces to match up to the names I am talking about."

"Sure thing Bren. I'll send them now. How is he doing?"

"Well, his visit with Parker seemed to help some. He is going to be just fine though. It is only a matter of time before he remembers everything."

"I don't want to rain on your parade -"

"I don't know what that means" Brennan interrupted.

"That's not important right now. The point is you should be careful; I don't want you to get your hopes up. How do you know he'll get it all back?" Angela asked being the reasonable one for once.

"I know because he called me 'Bones'" she replied in the same sure voice she used when Booth had asked a similar question earlier, the same voice she used when pointing out irregularities on the bones she examined.

"Ok Sweetie. I believe you. You should have the pictures by now. Should we come visit later tonight?"

"That should be fine. We'll see you after work. Thank you Ang."

"You're welcome Bren."

"Hey Booth, I have some pictures now."

"Then get over here and show them to me" he joked motioning her over to sit with the computer next to him on the bed.

At first she gave him a dubious look, but quickly gave in and settled in comfortably sitting with him on the bed the computer on their laps. She opened the file attached to the email and watched his face as he took in the pictures.

The first picture that he saw was the brunette woman he had seen with Bones when she was crying at Christmas. He had seen that face several other times too. He thought she might have been an artist because a couple of times he had seen her with sketches. He guessed this was 'Angela' since she was the only other woman Bones had really talked about working with, other than Cam. The next picture was a man with a head of reddish curls. He knew this face too, but did not have a name to put with it. The third was a picture of a kid with a buzzed military hair cut. From what he had heard already, he would guess that this was Bones' assistant 'Zach'. Scrolling down he came across the picture of a dignified looking black man. He had the air of authority around him leading Booth to believe that this was 'Dr. Goodman'. The next picture he was able to pick out as Cam, a little older than what he remembered and her hair was different, but at least he knew the name that belonged with the face. The next to last picture was of another young looking kid. This one was thin with black hair. Maybe this one was 'Zach'? He really didn't know and Bones had yet to say anything. Scrolling down to the last picture, he was surprised to find in it himself and Bones. It had obviously been taken without their knowledge. They were in a deep conversation apparently and both looked a little peeved. Glancing at Bones out of the corner of his eye, he registered that she had not seen this picture before either.

Before saying anything, Bones wanted to measure his reactions to the faces. She was hoping that just seeing their faces would somehow immediately spark memories, but knew that was too much to hope for. What she did see as he looked at the pictures was a mixture of concentration, frustration, and appraisal with just a hint of recognition. The recognition was much stronger as he looked at Cam's picture and Bones had to work hard to school her face not to show the emotions going through her head. She knew already that he remembered Cam, but that didn't make it any easier to see. When he came to the last picture he looked immensely pleased and she tore her eyes away from his face to see what he was looking at. What she saw surprised her. She had never seen this picture before and she couldn't remember when it would have been taken, but them arguing was nothing new and they were both extraordinarily stubborn people. Once the shock wore off she blushed as she realized that Booth was now watching _her _as intently as she had been watching him earlier.

Clearing her throat she suggested they start from the top and she would name the faces for him. "The first woman is Angela; she's our forensic artist. She gives our victims back their faces and adds a little 'normal' to our group. Next is Hodgins; he's our bug and slime guy as well as the resident conspiracy theorist. Then comes Zach, my assistant. This picture mush have been taken after he returned from Iraq. He is now in a mental hospital." Taking in the curious look on his face, and only contemplating for a moment on the fact that for someone who had very limited interpersonal skills she was able to read her partner extraordinarily well, she continued, "I'll explain later. After that is Dr. Goodman. He used to run the Medico-Legal lab at the Jeffersonian, but he went on sabbatical a couple of years ago. Cam you know," surprisingly she masked the bitterness at those words fairly well. "Then there is Sweets, our psychologist" she finished not seeing a need to explain the very last picture.

"_He's_ our psychologist? He barely looks old enough to drive."

"Believe it or not, although I do not personally put any stock into psychology, Sweets seems to be pretty good at what he does, except of course when he's trying to analyze us. He has earned several doctorates apparently."

Just then Booth tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn. "You are tired Booth. You should rest. It must be extremely taxing trying to remember things. Besides Ang said that they were going to come visit you after work which means they should be here in about three hours."

Booth opened his mouth to argue but changed his mind at the look on her face. He was tired after all and maybe some more pieces of the puzzle would fall into place while he slept. At any rate, he would need the rest to visit with his 'friends'. It felt weird to have to put mental quotes around that word, but at the moment, all he really had was Bones' word that that's what they were. Personally he had some reservations that _he_ would be friends with a group of major nerds and his psychologist.

*~BONES~*

Bones was awoken when the doctor came in to examine Booth about an hour and a half later. She waited quietly as he assessed the printouts monitoring Booth's brain waves. When he had finished, she got up and followed him from the room so as not to bother the sleeping agent. "How does it look doctor?" she asked closing the door.

"So far everything seems to be on track. He's had some elevated brain waves for the past few hours. The kind of activity that the machines recorded are usually associated with memories and remembering" he informed her having come to realize that she wanted the scientific explanations behind his predictions and diagnosis.

"Well, his son came to visit for about an hour and then he remembered my nickname" she confessed with a slight blush. "From that point until about an hour and a half ago I was telling him about things we have done and cases we have worked. We looked at pictures of our friends too. He didn't say anything about remembering any of it though."

"That is not uncommon for amnesia patients. They often don't recall what we would consider full memories. They tend to experience the memories in bits and pieces with large gaps in between. Sometimes the patient is not sure what is real or what their mind has made up to fill the gaps. From what I have heard about agent Booth from you and your friends, I would assume that he is preferring to err on the side of caution and not tell you about the things he remembers in case they are not true. It's as much to protect you from disappointment as himself."

"That does sound like something he would do. He is always trying to protect everybody" Brennan acknowledged nodding her head a couple of times. "How do I get him to tell me?" she asked already trying to form a plan of action in her mind.

"Just keep doing what you're already doing. Tell him about things he should remember and be there for him. Assure him that regardless of what he reveals, you and your friends are there to help him through this."

"Thank you doctor. Our friends are going to be here in about an hour, so if he needs to have any tests done, it would probably be best to get them done soon" she said, some of her old authority and self assurance returning to her tone and stance.

He merely nodded, once again amazed at the woman that she was before turning and continuing on his rounds.

*~BONES~*

The conversation that Booth and Bones, well mostly Bones, were having was interrupted by a knock on the door. At Bones' "come in;" four people scrambled into the room. Angela and Cam made for the bed to hug Booth while Hodgins and Sweets made themselves comfortable in two of the chairs Brennan had had brought to the room for the visit.

"Oh my goodness Sweetie! You had us all so worried about you. First Bren calls us and tells us that you are in the hospital, and then you have a brain tumor, then you were in a coma and I was afraid you were never going to wake up, and then … well then I get this call this morning and I was so excited that you were awake, but then Bren said that you had amnesia! How is that by the way?"

"Ang relax. Take a breath. At least let the rest of us say hi before you start ambushing him with questions" Hodgins said pulling on her hand and leading her over to a nearby chair. Turning back to the man in the bed he said, "Hey man! How're the drugs? Do they still have you on the good stuff for the surgery?"

"No, unfortunately I think the strongest thing I'm on at the moment is aspirin" Booth replied with a ghost of his usual charming smile.

Brennan was content to sit back and watch as Booth interacted with their friends. Fortunately they kept the visit relatively short and there wasn't more than just a hint of awkwardness to the whole hour or so they were there. Everyone shared a few of their favorite team memories with him, and occasionally Bones could see a glimmer of recognition in his eyes. Most of the memories they were reliving were things that had happened outside of work: His frustration of them coming into Wong Fu's and 'taking over' then his proclamation of the table being the 'squint area' and the bar 'his area', following Brennan to New Orleans then returning her ear ring (this from Angela who was the only one outside of the partners to know the significance of that simple act), Cam taking Booth as her 'boyfriend' to her dad's birthday dinner, the time he and Brennan had gone to make pottery with Sweets and his then girlfriend and the following night when they took him bowling because she had dumped him.

When Brennan began to notice how tired Booth was once again getting trying to keep up with all of the stories, she made her way over to Angela and pointed it out to her in an attempt to get the others to leave. "Ok, so I'm starving. I didn't eat before I came. You guys want to grab a bite on the way home?" Ang asked the group.

"I would love to but don't think I can right now" Booth joked and everyone laughed a little before one by one they began to say their goodbyes and leave the room.

"How are you doing Sweetie? I noticed you weren't talking much in there" Angela pried once the two women were out of the room.

"I am fine Ang. It is not about me" she reiterated. "I have just been talking for quite a while before you all got here. Hours really. And its hard to talk about the things we have done together and be the only one who remembers. Then I don't know what all to tell him, because not all of it has been good, and I don't want to be the one to remind him of the bad things that have happened" Brennan confessed.

"Like the fridge bomb and Kenton?" Angela asked softly a look of sympathy on her face.

"Yeah, that is a good example."

"Are you going home tonight? He's awake now" she pointed out needlessly.

"I will think about it. It depends. Have a good night Ang, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Yeah, goodnight Bren. At least get some sleep ok?"

"Deal" Brennan smiled and hugged Angela before waving at the others waiting by the elevator and walking back into Booth's room.

When she entered the room, she found him seemingly deeply in thought. Not wanting to disturb him, she moved as quietly as she could back to her chair and watched. He seemed to be sorting through thoughts, memories maybe, and she was dying to know, but still she remained silent and waited for him to come out of his reverie. Suddenly a bright smile erupted across his face. "Bones, you have a great voice."

"What?" she asked startled by both the seeming randomness of the comment and the fact that she had been unaware he even knew she was there.

"I said you have a great voice. You know, singing voice. You really did sound great."

The brief smile that crossed her face at the realization that he was in fact remembering, and her own memories of the freeness she felt belting out 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' was quickly replaced by another expression though. The second held a mix of fear, heartbreak, and anger. The same emotions in the same measure of fear she felt when Pam had pulled that trigger and Booth had fallen, the pain she felt when she thought he was dead, followed by the anger of learning about the lie.

Booth did not fail to notice the look on her face. "What did I say?" he questioned quietly wondering if he had imagined the impromptu concert.

"Nothing" she quickly covered schooling her features and bracing herself for the next part of this discussion. She really wished she didn't have to tell him this. It would be so much easier for both of them, she was sure, if he remembered on his own. Taking a deep breath she dared to ask, "What do you remember from that night?"

Booth was quiet for a moment organizing his thoughts and subconsciously rubbing his shoulder. "We had just solved a case and I managed to convince you to sing for us. You had a great voice and we were all having so much fun. But you never got to finish the song, I don't think. I don't remember you finishing it anyway."

"Anything else?" she asked almost desperate for it to come back to him. She knew he knew somewhere because he hadn't stopped worrying the shoulder that had taken the shot.

"Not really why?"

"Booth, do you feel that scar on your shoulder?" At his small nod she continued in as clinical a detachment as she could. "During that case, a woman named Pam became obsessed with you. She thought that I was the reason you were not with her." Another deep breath and a shifting of her eyes from his told him to prepare for something hard to hear. "Well, her solution was to kill me, shoot me. She called out to you and you saw and took the bullet for me. I killed her then put pressure to the wound until the paramedics arrived." She stopped abruptly, figuring that was enough for now. He didn't need to hear about his 'death' at the moment.

Booth watched her face and knew she was holding back. There was more to the story than that. He remembered the last time she had stopped herself and changed course so abruptly. It was when talking about the last time he had been in the hospital. That slip of the tongue had caused the same haunted look to shadow her eyes for a couple of minutes. In the silence more images sprang to his head. His friends standing around a flag covered casket, Bones' stoic face and blank eyes, him gripping a riffle while dressed in military blues, the fallen casket and the dummy strewn across the ground, Bones slugging him before storming away, the two of them arguing at the lab still dressed in the same clothes, her barging in on him in the bath with a comic and cigar, tears in her eyes and disbelief mixed with betrayal on her face. The images themselves were muddled and fleeting, far to brief to follow with any coherency. Finally he asked, "Bones, what happened?"

"I told you. You were shot protecting me. I shot the would be killer. End of story."

"You left something out. A big something that happened after I was shot" he practically whispered. Her head shot up and she once again established eye contact a question in her eyes. "I see flashes, pictures sometimes clips; sometimes quiet sometimes with bits of sound. I know you are holding something back. I know there was a funeral and I hurt you somehow and you busted in on my bath, but I don't know details."

She nodded once acknowledging his admission before quietly connecting the dots for him. "When you were shot, the FBI took the opportunity to fake your death to draw out a criminal. Apparently I was supposed to be informed along with your family, but Sweets thought it best not to tell me -"

"That son of a -" he interrupted.

She figured it best if he didn't know why she had not been told and continued as if she had not heard him. "At your funeral, the man showed up and you fought him, but he pulled a gun, so I knocked him out. Then I …" she trailed off self-consciously.

"Slugged me" he finished for her with a small smile.

"Yes. Afterwards we fought over why I had not been told and how I thought you should have informed me personally that you were in fact alive. I showed up at your house, and we argued some more, but we worked it out" she finished with a small smile of her own. After a few moments of silence she voiced the question that had been weighing on her mind since talking to the doctor. "Booth was that the first time the memories appeared or has it been happening all day?"

"They have been happening on and off since Parker's visit, after I called you Bones. I would get flashes while you were telling me stories, when we were looking at the pictures, when the squints were here" he admitted sheepishly.

"That's great Booth. If you want to later, you can tell me what you are seeing and hearing and I can help you fill in the gaps. I think it will make for a more interesting conversation at least."

*~BONES~*

**Author's Note****: That's it for now. I plan to do at least one more installment of this series. I hope you liked it and it lived up to expectations. As for the spoilers, I figure most of the people who are reading this have already seen them and it's a nice stroll down memory lane. For those who haven't seen them, well, I figure its good enough to make them want to watch and vague enough not to ruin anything.**


	4. Putting the Pieces Back Together

**Putting the Pieces Back Together**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Three-quel to ****Falling to Pieces**** and ****Picking up the Pieces**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

**Word Count: 4915**

*~BONES~*

**Warning: major fluffiness beyond this point.**

*~BONES~*

Later that night Booth awoke to find Bones curled awkwardly in the same uncomfortable chair she had occupied for the past five days. He took a moment to reflect on the fact that she had not left his side any longer than absolutely necessary since this whole thing began. It was hard to imagine that kind of connection and loyalty, but he was grateful for it. She shifted trying in vain to get comfortable. He shifted to the farthest part of the bed before softly calling out to her. She stirred but didn't wake so he tried again. This time she opened her eyes a fraction before asking agitatedly "What Booth?"

"You looked uncomfortable in the chair. Why don't you come lay up here with me?" he offered.

"Booth I can't do that. The bed is hardly big enough for you, let alone the both of us" she protested practically, though the thought of a bed, even a shared one, was very appealing.

"Aw, come on Bones. I made room. And I won't sleep if you insist on staying in that chair" he protested with his special smile.

She was quiet for a while just looking at him, making a list of pros and cons in her head. Finally she made up her mind and rose from the chair. In a few short steps she slipped into the bed and under the sheets he was holding up. He dropped the sheets over her and laid his arm over her hip pulling her closer to a more comfortable position for both of them. Just before he drifted back to sleep he heard her whisper her thanks.

*~BONES~*

Angela stopped by to see Booth and check if Brennan went home the previous night only to find the two curled comfortably in each other's arms, asleep. The smile that lit her face could have powered the hospital for a year and she was just able to stop the squeal erupting from her throat. She quickly took a picture with her phone before tuning on her heel and heading into work. She couldn't wait to talk to Bren and find out all the juicy details. And she wanted to lord it in front of the others that she had told them all along that it was just a matter of time. Now that she thought about it, she had about $300 dollars worth of bets to collect on. Her smile growing impossibly larger at the thought, she started her car and headed towards the Jeffersonian leaving a voicemail for Sweets to meet her there as soon as possible.

*~BONES~*

Booth woke reluctantly from the dream he was having. In reality, it was composed more of bits and pieces of disjucted memories than actual dreams. He clung to the last image that he saw before the pull of consciousness won out over sleep. In this fraction of a memory he stood outside in the snow with Parker and a lighted Christmas tree talking on the phone to Bones who was on the other side of a fence standing looking out at them from the window, her family surrounding her. In that moment she looked so happy it almost made up for the other images in his head. Ones of her sobbing into his shoulder in a barn, or burying a short lived but well loved pet, or kneeling on the ground her hands tied and suspended above her head a gag in her mouth. So much had happened to the two of them and it frustrated him that he could only remember fragments of them.

After some time, he took stock of his surroundings and was mildly surprised to find the woman who occupied his thoughts also occupied his arms. Somehow it felt anything but wrong or unnatural to wake like this. In fact, as far as he knew which granted still had a lot of holes, he had never been this content in his life. Realization came quickly, if unexpectedly, that he was in love with this woman who had been described as his partner and friend. He could feel it in his gut and could not for the life of him figure out why he had never acted on the feelings he was experiencing.

The answer to the question came to him in the stillness of the room though through clips of conversations and arguments. He had said something about a line, she was afraid of abandonment after both her parents and brother had walked out on her, he was afraid he'd put her or himself in danger by being distracted in the field, she didn't believe in marriage and didn't want kids, but she had changed her mind on the last point and asked him to father her child less than a week ago. In essence, they disagreed on too many things. On the other hand, as much as they disagreed and as much as they argued, they were stronger professionally and personally for their differences. As he felt her stir and begin to wake, he made a decision. When he was out of the hospital and had regained at least most of his memory, he was going to sit her down and present two arguments for why they should be together. The first would appeal to the ultra rational and logical side that she prided herself on; the second to the emotional side she attempted to hide from the world.

*~BONES~*

The first conscious thought that passed through Brennan's mind was that she was more comfortable and better rested than she had been in days. The second was that she was laying in Booth's hospital bed wrapped securely in his arms. A smile came unbidden to her lips and she refused to dwell too long on why that was. Instead she turned in his embrace and searched out his warm chocolate brown eyes. When she found them not only open but watching her intently she whispered an almost shy, "Morning Booth."

"Morning Bones. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes as a matter of fact I did. Thank you. What time is it anyway? I should probably get up" she stated as she moved to crawl from the bed. Reluctantly Booth let her go. Both immediately missed the contact as she once again took her place in the chair next to his bed. Grabbing her phone, Brennan noticed that she had two voicemail messages. The first was from the previous night; Rebecca was calling to tell her that she would be bringing Parker by today around lunch again. As she waited for the next message to play she informed Booth of the impending visit. The second message was clearly Angela, but Brennan had to listen to the message a second time to catch all of what was said.

Noticing her creased brow and the way she was looking at the phone Booth asked, "What's the matter Bones?"

"What?" Brennan questioned clearly caught off guard. "Oh, that was Angela. Apparently she is very proud of me, she is not too big of a person to say 'I told you so', and she wants 'all the juicy details'. I don't have a clue what she's talking about though." Shaking her head of the puzzling thoughts circling her mind, she turned her attention back to Booth. "So what should we do this morning?"

"Eat" was his simple reply. She laughed as she told him that she would go down and get some coffee and breakfast.

While she was gone, the doctor stopped in to inform Booth that barring any unexpected set backs or complications he could be released the next day, but that someone should stay with him for at least the first week he was home.

*~BONES~*

The rest of the day passed easily. The two friends ate and talked about everything for the four hours before Rebecca and Parker showed up. Sometimes she would start a story telling him about a case or an incident stopping every once and a while for him to add what he was able to pull from the memory banks. Sometimes he would remember something, a conversation or face, and would describe it to her and Bones would tell him the story behind what he remembered on his own.

They talked about everything from the case on Halloween when she dressed as Wonder Woman and he as a squint to the not so distant trip to China on which they solved a case but never got to step foot off the plane in China itself. They talked of the trip to England and his 'knighthood' and the trip to New Orleans when he saved her just by putting his faith in her. They talked of Gordon Gordon and Sweets and their differing takes on psychology. She reminded him of her 'family situation' and how he had arrested her father but never let that affect how he saw or treated her. They laughed over their punishment during that trial and how juvenile it seemed, like getting caught talking in class. They lamented over Zach and how he could fall under the influence of someone like the Gormogon. He teased her about 'Roxy' and the incident with the crystal meth. She in turn teased him about his fear of clowns and the 'horse fetish' case.

There were some things and some cases that she shied away from. Included in those were Howard Epps, the time they were blown up by Gormogon's apprentice, Agent Kenton, and both times they had had run ins with The Gravedigger. There were some images he didn't tell her about. He refused, at least for now, to reveal remembering how he felt when the team watched the clock reach zero and everyone gave up for a moment, the fear when after crawling out of the taxi she wasn't responding, her face just before he shot Kenton, him standing with the barrel of his gun in a gang leader's mouth, or his distraction when she was shot (even if it was only on the arm).

When around noon Parker and Rebecca showed up, Bones excused herself to go home and get cleaned up as well as to stop by the office and his apartment to get things they would need for the next couple of days.

*~BONES~*

Brennan first went to her apartment to get cleaned up and pack a small overnight bag. The next stop was Booth's. There she packed a change of clothes and toiletries for him to use before leaving the next day. Her last stop was the office. She made it to her office to pick up files she needed to sign off on before anyone noticed her. Her presence didn't go unnoticed for long though as Angela stealthily made her way into the office and shut the door behind her.

"So Sweetie, spill! What happened between you and Booth last night? Did he remember something special between you two or something? Did he suddenly confess his love for you? Did you kiss? Was it great?" Angela gushed as soon as she sat across from her friend's desk.

"I don't have any idea what you are talking about Angela. Why would you think that we kissed? And what did you mean in your message about 'I told you so'?"

Instead of answering verbally, Angela simply removed her phone from her pocket, pushed a couple of buttons, and handed it across the desk. Brennan looked at Angela skeptically before glancing down at the phone. What she saw on the screen surprised her. It was a picture of Booth and herself asleep that morning. She glanced back up at Angela and a light blush colored her cheeks. She had to admit it was a cute picture and they made a good looking couple, but it felt wrong somehow that such a personal moment between the two should be captured on 'film'. Even worse was the fact that Angela was the one who had taken the picture and her well meaning friend had probably already started to spread rumors around the lab.

"Ang, nothing happened last night" she protested. "He woke up and saw that I was uncomfortable sleeping in the chair so he let me share the bed. And yes he is starting to remember a lot more. We spent all morning 'remembering'" she stated with a small smile just lifting the corners of her lips.

"That's great. So what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be at the hospital with Booth?"

"Parker and Rebecca are there now and I thought that would be a god time to get some stuff done. I don't want to leave him alone for too long right now. But the doctor said that he should be able to go home tomorrow."

"Can I let the others know?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Maybe we could have a welcome home party for him" Angela enthused.

"It might be better to let him settle into things first Ang. He is remembering things, but it's slow. Right now he just has pieces with huge gaps missing. Like he can remember feeling the explosion and seeing Zach in the hospital but nothing in between and very little after, until after we were all back here going through Zach's stuff" she said quietly her eyes not quite meeting those of her friend.

Angela nodded slightly downtrodden. "Ok, so no party then. Maybe we should wait and do dinner at the diner in a few days. We don't want to overwhelm him. Can we still come visit after work?" she asked slightly hesitant.

"Of course. I didn't mean that seeing you all would be bad. I think it probably helps to see familiar faces and hear stories. I just don't think he's up to a party right now."

"Ok Bren. Tell Booth we'll stop by to see him later tonight." With that she gave Brennan a brief hug and left the office.

*~BONES~*

The rest of the night passed by quickly with the squints visiting for about another hour. Booth once again offered to share the bed with Bones when she started nodding off in the chair. Thinking back on the picture Angela had and the problems that might have caused, she was more reluctant than she had been the previous night. However looking at his almost pleading face and remembering how well she had slept after moving to the bed the previous night she consented.

The next morning the two sat in bed talking about plans for the rest of the day until a nurse came into the room with Booth's discharge papers. Once they were signed, Bones handed him the bag she had packed the previous day and sent him into the bathroom to clean up some and change. Half an hour later they were situated in his SUV driving to his apartment.

"Bones, why do you have my car?"

"Because when we left interrogation to come to the hospital I only had access to your car" she explained like she would explain the origin of a fracture on a bone.

"But that was a week ago!"

"I am aware of how long it has been. It did not make sense to arrange to change vehicles when I was spending most of my time at the hospital with you anyways. Besides, it has to be easier for you to get in and out of this than my car and there is more room. And we are going back to your apartment." Brennan nodded once feeling that she had adequately laid out her reasoning and it had no flaws. Of course she wouldn't, couldn't, tell Booth that another reason she was still driving his car was that it smelled like him and reminded her of him. The rest of the ride passed in a comfortable silence.

When they arrived at the apartment building, Brennan retrieved both her and Booth's bags from the trunk and lead the way to his apartment. Reaching the door, she fished out her keys and quickly found the right one to work the lock. By the time Booth had taken off his coat, she had already made herself at home, having removed her jacket and shoes and put the bags down in his room for the time being. He marveled that he could possibly have forgotten her when she was so at home in his space and looked so right there.

Booth sat down on the couch with the remote as Bones made her way to his kitchen. "Come on Bones, you don't have to cook. We can just order in" he called to her.

"It is really no trouble besides it is your first night out of the hospital, you should have a nice homemade meal" she called back to him. He muttered something in response, but the sound of the tv drowned it out.

Half an hour later Bones appeared by Booth's side with two plates of macaroni and cheese and two beers. Gratefully accepting the dish and beer Booth flashed back to another apartment and the first time they shared this particular dish. It was after they had solved a case involving a young chef, though her name escaped him for the moment. Bones had demonstrated her culinary skills in lieu of eating at the fancy restaurant. He smiled at the memory, incomplete as it may be, and dug in to the delicious dinner.

After dinner was finished, Bones took his plate and said something about doing dishes when another memory, this one painful for both of them, struck Booth. The intensity of emotion he was feeling at this particular memory, even before it really solidified in his mind, caused Booth to grab Bones' arm and remove the plates from her hands as he pulled her back down next to him. Brennan looked to him curiously but he looked unseeingly ahead. In his mind, Booth was seeing his usually calm and collected partner fall apart not only in front of him, which had happened a time or two, but also in front of Sweets. She was saying something about the water being so hot and the soap so slippery. He tried desperately to pull the pieces together himself because this was definitely not something he could ask her about and he needed to know about it now. "They locked me in a car trunk for two days" he could hear her say, her voice riddled with tears, "They warned me what would happen … But I didn't think it was fair … even though they warned me …". As the final pieces of the memory fell into place he broke from his revelry and pulled Bones into a hug and kissed the top of her head.

Brennan was surprised by the sudden shift in her partner. Just as quickly as he had been lost into his mind, he was back again and hugging her like his life depended on it. She tried desperately to figure out what was going on in this man's head. She thought back over the past few minutes and couldn't find anything she had said or done that would have triggered this behavior. Nevertheless, she hugged back almost as tight attempting to comfort him from whatever ghost it was that was haunting him now. Only after he kissed the top of her head and whispered "It wasn't fair Bones" was she able to connect the dots. He was remembering what she had told him and Sweets about her foster parents! She knew that it had upset him, but she was surprised to find just how much this man was affected by something that had happened to her years before he had met her. Something she had successfully locked away in a little box until that night.

That night, the dishes were left on the counter and coffee table where they had been and the two made their way to bed.

Booth only had one spare room, Parker's, and the bed there was not really large enough for her to sleep on and he refused to allow her to sleep on the couch, so for the third night in a row the two partners shared a bed. Despite the obvious excess of room available in the king size bed over the hospital bed, the two slept right next to each other as they had the previous two nights. This night, however, their routine was changed when they shared a brief, tired kiss before drifting off to sleep.

*~BONES~*

When Booth awoke the next morning, he was momentarily disappointed to find the bed empty. The disappointment was short lived however, when the smell of coffee and bacon reached his nose. Now smiling, he got out of bed and walked out to the kitchen to find Bones standing at the stove,_ his_ stove, making bacon and eggs. Deciding to take a big chance, Booth stealthily made his way across the room and wrapped his arms around her waist.

At first Brennan stiffened, but as she realized who it was and remembered the kiss from the night before, she relaxed into his body and smiled back at him over her shoulder. "Good morning Booth. How are you feeling?"

"Right about now I feel great" he joked momentarily tightening his grip on her.

She laughed before pushing him away and instructing him to get them some plates. He reluctantly agreed and within five minutes the two were sitting at the table with breakfast and coffee.

"I thought we could stop in at the lab some time later today. Maybe even stop by your office and go see Sweets. I have some files I need to drop off with Cam" Brennan casually mentioned between bites of eggs.

"Sure. It might help to see the lab, but do we _have _to see Sweets?"

"I think it might help. He is a lot better at understanding how the mind works than I am. He will probably be better equipped to help you regain your memory than me."

He shook his head at her simple, rational answer. "Fine, we can go see Sweets too" he acquiesced.

Bones was slightly disappointed by his answer but couldn't figure out why. He had agreed with her. That should make her happy not disappoint her. Then it occurred to her that they had not had an argument since this whole thing began and she missed fighting with him. She had secretly hoped that he would argue the point a little longer just to regain a sense of normalcy in the relationship. Sighing she sent Booth to get ready for the day and she did the dishes from that morning and the night before.

*~BONES~*

Around 10:30 she pulled the SUV into Booth's regular spot outside the Jeffersonian and led the way to the Medico-Legal lab being careful to discretely keep an eye on her partner. As he walked through the automatic door for the lab, his mind was flooded with a swarm of memories spanning years and all jumbled together. He almost took a physical step back from the onslaught. Noticing this, Bones laid a gentle hand on his arm and led him quickly to her office before setting him down on her couch and closing the door. She silently sat next to him and waited for him to sort out what was going on in her mind.

He was the first to speak. "Thanks Bones. It just all kind of came at me at once you know?" he asked, although he seemed to be speaking more to himself than to her.

"I'm sorry, I should have waited to bring you here. It was too much too soon."

"No Bones, this was good. Remembering is good. It just gets a little overwhelming at times. But remembering a lot at once has to be better than remembering hardly anything right?"

She studied his face carefully for a moment or two before finally conceding that he was probably right and would be fine. "If you say so. Maybe we should wait and go to your office another day though. I don't want to overload your brain."

"Maybe. Let's just see how this goes, ok? Then we can talk about whether or not to go to the Hoover building."

Standing she nodded before moving to the door. "I have to go find Cam. Do you want to stay here or would you rather come with me?"

"I'll come with you" he announced, standing as well and striding over to her side. As they walked through the door, his hand found its way to the small of her back.

They found Cam in a relatively small room off to the side from the main lab platform. As he walked into the room and observed Cam working a conversation came back to him. Cam asked what would happen if Dr. Brennan left the Jeffersonian. At first he tried to make a joke about the squints running out of the place. Then in a more serious tone of voice he informed her "I'm with Bones Cam, all the way. Don't doubt that for a second."

Returning to the present he was impressed at how well the two got along now. They would never be best friends, but they were _friendly_ towards each other at least. No sooner had he processed that thought than Cam directed her attention from Bones to him.

"How's it going Seeley? Brennan said you're starting to remember things."

"Yeah, I remember some things. Being here is helping, I think. It should just be a matter of time."

"Good" she announced before turning her attention to the black man standing in the door way. "Yes Mr. Edison? What do you need?"

"I heard Dr. Brennan was in and wondered if she could look at something for me" Clark said.

"Sure Clark. I will be right there" Brennan answered as she started towards the door.

"Hi Agent Booth, it's god to see you again."

"Yeah you too" Booth said not quite able to place this face. As he and Bones followed the young man, Clark Bones had called him, he leaned into her ear and whispered "Who's he?"

Bones looked up at him for a moment with her head tilted to the side as if trying to find the best way to answer the question. "He is a grad student that is on a rotation here in Zach's place" she finally whispered back.

"I … didn't he have something to do with your father's trial?" he asked as he finally managed to place the image in his mind.

"Yes, he was the anthropologist for the defense in my father's case" she answered before turning her full attention to the bones laid out before them on the table and asking in a louder voice, "So what did you want me to see?"

*~BONES~*

Half an hour later the partners were heading out of the building and to the diner for lunch. Booth had talked with Angela, Hodgins and Cam while Bones had examined whatever bone anomaly Clark had found and helped him explain the probable origins of them.

Booth marveled at how great a teacher she really was. Bones was not one to coddle or give away praise. Her students had to earn any praise they got from her, but that made it all the more rewarding to win. And she was good at helping lead her students to the answers they already knew but either had not reached yet or were not confident enough to say aloud.

Watching her with Clark brought back memories he probably hadn't really given any heed to before. Instead of the man that was standing across the table from her, he saw a shaggy haired kid with eyes almost too big for his head muddling through reasonings behind his conclusions and triumphantly shouting "King of the lab!"

"Booth, why are you staring at me?" Bones asked with a bemused smile on her lips.

Booth shook himself from his thoughts and muttered "Sorry Bones, I was just remembering. Are we ready to go now? I'm starving."

*~BONES~*

Sitting in what Bones called 'our table', more memories flooded Booth's already confused mind. Sweets wearing an elf hat, giving Bones a Brainy Smurf figurine, talking to a teenage boy about the kind of man he would grow up to be, sitting there with Cam when he got the call from the Gravedigger, talking to Bones about 'breaking the laws of physics', 'not talking' to Bones about how to help her father's case, talking to Jared about going to India …

For the most part, the two ate silently. Occasionally she would snag a fry from his plate or he would sneak a crouton from her salad. They didn't need to talk. They were both content to dwell in their own thoughts secure in mere fact that the other was there. The familiarity of the silence was comforting to both after the events of the past week and they reveled in it. Eventually though, the food finished and the check came. The argument over who would pay was the first time in almost twenty minutes that either of them had spoken. It too was comfortable in its familiarity though, so neither minded dragging it out longer than absolutely necessary. It was moments like these that assured the two that everything was not lost or broken beyond repair. There was still a way to put the pieces back together and everything would be ok.

*~BONES~*

**Author's Note****: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and this third part of the series lived up to the others. I don't know if I should continue this series or not. If I do I will probably skip ahead at least a couple of weeks. Let me know what you think about continuing and how I should, if I do. If anyone has ideas they think should be included, let me know. Oh, and is the end too sappy? It seems kinda sappy to me, but oh well.**


	5. Bits and Pieces

**Bits and Pieces**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****,****Picking up the Pieces****, and **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

**Warning: the end is very fluffy. I couldn't help myself.**

**Word Count: 5523**

*~BONES~*

Once they reached the car, Bones turned to Booth a silent question in her eyes. Before she could vocalize it he answered her. "Let's go to the Hoover building and see Sweets."

She nodded and started the car, turning it towards the Hoover building. On the way there they discussed some of the things he had recalled at the diner and their expectations for the visit with Sweets.

*~BONES~*

The first stop they made was at Cullen's office. As they approached, his secretary looked up surprised. "Agent Booth! It's good to see you. I'll just let the director know you're here."

"Thanks" he replied. When Bones noticed the brief hesitation while saying that one word she whispered the woman's name to him. He quickly tacked "Celia" onto the end of the statement seamlessly. Bones marveled at how easily he seemed to pass off the amnesia without detection.

"You can go right in Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan" Celia announced a minute later.

Both nodded their appreciation as they walked through the door into the office. They were greeted by the voice of Sam Cullen. "Booth, Brennan, to what do I owe this visit?"

"I just felt that I should check in while I was in the building" Booth announced, "We're here to see Sweets. He thinks he knows how to help me regain my memories quicker."

"How is that coming?"

"Pretty well Sir. I'm getting it back in bits and pieces at the moment, but the docs think it should only be a matter of a couple of weeks at the most."

"Good, good. So when will you be returning to duty?"

"That's kind of up to you Sir. The doctor said that I'll be physically ready to return to work by the end of next week."

"Well, we'll wait and see how it goes. I'll think about it and let you know."

"Yes Sir."

"Dr. Brennan, until Booth is cleared to get back to work, you will be working with Agent Perotta. I assume that won't be a problem?"

"No, that should be fine. It's better than trying to break in a new agent at least" she responded, the second part more to herself than the men in the room. Booth smiled at his partner while Cullen looked a little annoyed.

"If we're done, I have a meeting" Cullen announced.

"Of course Sir" Booth said turning on his heel and leaving the office with Bones on his tail.

*~BONES~*

On the way to his office, Booth passed many faces that were familiar but he couldn't find names to go to any of them. The more nameless faces he saw the more frustrated he got. Bones noticed the extra burst of speed Booth put on as his office came into view and the tension in his shoulders.

One face he saw, right before entering his office stopped him in his tracks causing Bones to almost run into him. In his mind, he was on his way to the funeral for the Vargas's when he was stopped in the hall by a fellow agent and handed a piece of paper sent to him by the gang task force. The agent informed him that the Mala Muerte gang had put a hit out on "your lady scientist". Booth remembered his blood running cold and his chest tightening in a fear he had only felt a couple of times before, usually associated with Parker being in danger. After telling the agent to send his thanks to the others he had stood in the hall a moment longer before he made up his mind, he would deal with this now. The rest of the afternoon played through his head in fast forward: tracking down the leader of the gang and threatening him, driving to the cemetery and trying to decide just what he would tell Bones, asking Angela if he was in trouble, passing off him being late as doing something that needed to be done (no details), walking off with Bones.

Brennan was shocked at the emotions she saw cross her partner's face. Shock, horror, and hatred passed by in quick succession followed by a very threatening mask and burning eyes, this faded almost as quickly as it had come to contrition without a hint of regret and finally a small smile graced his lips. She looked around, discretely, desperate to find the cause of this added tension in her partner. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, she became concerned. "Booth?" she called softly not wanting to startle him or draw unwanted attention. When she got no response, she placed a hand in his back and led him the six or seven steps into his office.

Once they were safely in, she closed the door behind her and turned once again to Booth. Touching his shoulder lightly she once again called his name. Still he seemed lost in the confines of his mind. Tightening her grip a little and shaking him she called louder this time, "Booth, what's wrong?"

Coming back to the present, Booth was surprised to find himself in his office with his partner looking at him with concern. "I'm fine Bones. I just remembered something that's all" he tried to assure her.

"What did you remember?"

"It's not important. When are we supposed to see Sweets?"

"Later, and stop trying to change the subject. Whatever it was that you remembered was important! It was written all over your face. You even paled. Now, what did you remember?" she demanded.

Booth took a moment to consider his options. He could stall further and probably end up hurt. He could tell her in front of Sweets and thus avoid hurt now, but then Sweets would want to dig into _why_ he had handled it the way he had. He could lie and make something up, but she would probably know he was lying. Or he could tell her the truth, in the privacy of his office, and hope like hell she didn't get too made at his 'alpha male tendencies'. Deciding the last was probably the lesser of the evils he motioned for her to sit. He took up residence leaning against his desk facing her.

Taking a deep breath he began, "Bones, you remember the case we worked, the one with the Vargas's?"

"Of course I remember Booth. You are the one with amnesia, not me" she responded trying to figure out where he was going.

He gave her a brief smile before the seriousness returned to his features. "Well, I never really told you why I was late to the funeral. As I was leaving to meet you at the cemetery, I got a note from the gang task force. The note said that the Mala Muertes put out a hit on you. I had to handle that" he said in a rush hoping against hope that she would let him leave it at that.

She however was oblivious to his desire to drop it or didn't care because she pressed for more details. "How did you 'handle it' Booth? And why didn't you tell me that there was a hit out on me. I can look out for myself you know!

"Yes, I know you can. I didn't tell you because I had already dealt with it and the hit was canceled and I didn't want you to worry over nothing."

"But how did you _handle_ it?" she pressed.

Sighing he decided to tell her outright. "I tracked down the leader of the gang, the one you beat up, the one who had ordered the hit, and told him that if anything happened to you I would kill him" he said, deciding to leave out the part about putting the gun in his mouth.

"And he agreed just like that?" she asked skeptically. "All you had to do was tell him to back off?"

"Well no, not only that" he admitted.

"Then what else did you do?"

"I may have shoved my gun in his mouth and threatened to blow his head off right there" he confessed quietly. It wasn't that he was ashamed. He would do it again in a heartbeat if he needed to, but he had hoped that she would never have to know about it.

She sat quietly for a couple of moments just watching him. She remembered the case well. They had only been working together for about four months. She was surprised that he would be willing to risk everything like that, so early in their partnership, for her. Then again a few months later he had risked his career again by removing evidence, her mother's ear ring, from a crime scene. At the time he had made a comment about how he would risk everything for her and quietly added that he already had. At the time she thought he was just talking about the one incident, but now she knew better. It made her wonder how many times he had saved her without her even knowing it.

"Bones?" he asked hesitantly when she had been quiet for an unnervingly long time.

She didn't answer with words, instead she threw herself at him and hugged him tight, surprising both of them. "Thank you for always saving me" she whispered into his ear.

"Hey, that's what partners do" he replied just as quietly pulling her a little closer. When she pulled back, he added "What, no lecture about alpha male tendencies?" to lighten the mood.

She laughed. "No, not now. Sometimes your alpha male tendencies work in my favor."

*~BONES~*

'Hiya Sweets. What's up?" Booth asked as he threw the door to the office open.

Sweets jumped a little at the entrance, but recovered well and motioned for the partners to take their usual seats as he moved around to his leather chair. "How are you feeling today Booth?"

"Just dandy thanks" was the smart reply.

"Booth, behave. He just wants to help" Brennan hissed from her place next to him.

Sweets watched on with amusement and awe as Booth turned to Brennan and the two held a silent conversation. Looking at them in this moment, one would never be able to tell that less than a week before, he had woken up and not had any idea who she was. It only proved to the young psychologist that the bond these two had was stronger than any he had ever seen. Even when common sense would suggest that the two should be uncomfortable or reserved with each other, something in their subconscious told them to trust and rely on the other. Finally Brennan seemed to win the silent debate and they once again returned their attention to the doctor before them.

"So, Bones says you think you know how to help me."

"That's correct. How have your memories been coming back? What triggers them?"

"I don't know really. Sometimes it's something I hear. Sometimes it's something I see."

"Can you give me an example of the first trigger?" Sweets asked.

"Well, the day I woke up, Bones was telling me about our first Christmas together, and I got these mental images, like I was looking at pictures from that day" Booth explained somewhat self-consciously.

Sweets looked thoughtful for a moment. He took special note of the way Booth referred to the event. He didn't say it was the first Christmas they worked together or his first with the team. Instead he referred to it as "our first Christmas together". There was something innately personal in the phrasing, but Sweets simply jotted down a quick note to discuss that later, and focused his attention on the matter immediately at hand. "Ok, and how about the second?" he asked.

Booth had not missed the way Sweets seemed to contemplate the previous admission too long and had gone over his answer in his mind. At first he could find nothing that would grab Sweets' attention like that, then it hit him, "our first … together". He mentally slapped himself for being so careless. But he had a plan to get back at Sweets. He knew, or at least had a pretty good idea of what the next question would be and he knew the perfect answer to embarrass the young psychologist.

After the question had been asked, Booth took a moment like he was trying to pick an example, but Bones saw the look in his eye and worried about what he was going to reveal. Before she could ponder it though, he answered.

"Well, when Bones and I went to the diner for lunch earlier, I remembered you there with an elf hat on" Booth answered just shy of cheekily. Brennan couldn't quite hide her smirk at the answer and the resulting redness of Sweet's face and ears. The next thing any of them knew, Booth and Brennan had broken out in laughter both at the memory and the look on Sweets' face.

After composing himself, Sweets squared his shoulders and responded, "Very funny Agent Booth. Now which trigger seems to be more effective?"

Booth thought for a minute before answering "Seeing things and being places."

Sweets simply nodded his head taking in the information. "What are most of your memories like?" Receiving blank looks from both Booth and Brennan he clarified, "Are they mostly like pictures, video clips? Do they come with sound? Are they full memories or only partial?"

"Well they are mostly like watching previews or a trailer" he answered.

"What does a trailer have to do with anything?" Bones asked confused.

"A movie trailer Bones" Booth explained smiling when realization dawned on her face. "Anyway, it's like I see fractions of what happened. I hear parts of a conversation. I see highlights of an event or day or case but miss a lot of the in between stuff."

"Ok, so let's try something. I'm going to mention an event or case and I want you to tell me what if anything you remember." Receiving a nod of acknowledgement he began. "So, how about Christmas last year?"

The room was silent as Booth pulled his thoughts together as best he could before asking, "The case or the actual day?"

"The actual day."

"Well, we solved the case … I went to Bones' office … we kissed under the mistletoe … I went back to my office … Parker showed up … I called Bones and told her to look outside and she and her family saw the Christmas tree Parker and I had set up outside the trailer at the prison … and then it started to snow."

"Wait a second, you and Dr, Brennan kissed!" was the first thing out of Sweet's mouth. He was a little too excited for his own good.

"Yes" Brennan answered. "Caroline said she would arrange for us to have the trailer for Christmas and make it look like Russ was visiting, not in jail, if Booth and I kissed under the mistletoe for five steamboats" she answered matter of factly and almost managed to keep the blush off her face.

Next Sweets consulted his notebook again before moving on to the next item. "What do you remember about your trip to LA?"

"Which trip?" Booth asked.

"The one where I made you let me drive" Bones supplied helpfully.

"Oh, that one!" Booth said with a smile. "That was a great car!"

"Yes, and it was fun to drive" Bones agreed.

"So other than the car, what do you remember?" Sweets interrupted.

"Well, there was a body at the airport that was dismembered by coyotes, there was a very pretty but incompetent FBI agent in charge out there, she was more interested in Bones' book becoming a movie than the case, … we had trouble getting an ID because of all the plastic surgery she had had … Bones got mad and told off a plastic surgeon … Zach figured out the murder weapon, kind of … we figured out who did it based on the fingernail and then we came home."

"What do you have against plastic sur-"

"You do not want to get her started." Booth interrupted.

"It is barbaric and wrong! Alison Holmes was a beautiful girl, but we almost couldn't find out who she was because she had taken every original and individual thing that made her, her away. We are made beautiful and different and plastic surgery takes away what makes us individuals" Bones ranted.

"I told you not to ask."

"When we were in LA you said you agreed with me Booth!" she accused.

"And I do, Bones, I just didn't think Sweets really wanted to hear your rant. Besides, I didn't want you all upset."

That seemed to pacify the anthropologist, because she sat back in the couch and turned back to Sweets, waiting for him to move on.

"What about the name Andy?" Sweets asked at length.

A smile lit up Brennan's face at the sound of the child's name. She was still in contact with Carol and Jimmy Grant and kept up with how baby Andy was doing. She even went to visit every couple of months. She still couldn't get over how much he had grown.

Meanwhile, Booth tried desperately to place the name. It was familiar, that much he knew. Looking at Bones, the smile on her face told him that this Andy was special to her too. So he closed his eyes and tried to remember, saying the name over and over in his mind. Random words spring to mind in connection with the name: key, elephant, cabin, Hunt-something, rubber. Frustrated, he pulls his poker chip out and starts flipping it in the air. He could hear a baby crying in the middle of the night, but they were at a crime scene. Watching the chip he remembers looking up to the tree and seeing a baby. Andy! With the realization of who Andy is, other things begin to fall into place. He remembered how scary it was that it felt normal, good to be arguing with Bones over who was going to go get the baby. He had to admit she was great with him. As the memories started flowing easier, a smile lit his face. The smile was dampened a bit when the reason they had even had Andy in the first place found its way to the light. Felling Bones' hand on his arm he remembered what it was he was supposed to be doing.

Sweets watched both partners as he mentioned the infant. Brennan was instantly a little happier. A loving smile, one he didn't remember ever seeing on her face, broke free and she seemed carefree for a few moments. Booth on the other hand had a look of utter concentration on his face. Sweets noticed as Bones looked to Booth, noting the expression on his face, simply nodded and left him to sort it out. She didn't seem concerned or surprised that recognition didn't seem to be coming easily. In fact, she seemed to be content in the knowledge that he could work it out. Secretly Sweets wondered just how much time the two had been spending together since this whole thing began. He also inwardly laughed at the fact that for someone who had such difficulties interpreting emotions from other people; she could read Booth as easily as a book or her bones.

The longer the silence went on, the more frustrated Booth seemed to become. Brennan simply watched and kept her distance. Soon Sweets realized that she was watching for an indication that Booth wanted her help. She would respect his need for independence and not interfere unless asked. A slight frown formed on her face as she watched Booth start to flip a poker chip. I had seen him do this out of boredom, but got the feeling that it was also somewhat cathartic for him. He watched the chip flip through the air and his eyes seemed to dull a little. This concerned Sweets a little. Looking to Brennan he noticed that this reaction actually seemed to make her happy. Now he was just confused, but the frustration and confusion eased away from the agent's face and a smile began to form. Watching his face, Brennan apparently saw whatever she had been waiting for, because she reached across and touched his arm. Sweets watched in amazement as his eyes cleared then turned to Brennan with a look of almost shame in them. It surprised him a little that the first words spoken in close to fifteen minutes were a barely audible, "It's ok Booth. It's not your fault."

A few more seconds of silence passed before the partners turned as one to the psychologist and Booth began to speak. "We were at a crime scene, a burned car that had gone off the road. Andy had been thrown free of the car and into a tree. We, Bones and I, had custody of him for a few days because he had swallowed a key that was evidence." A smile once again came across his face and he hesitated. This time however, he seemed to be trying to edit what was told, shorten it, not grasping for thoughts. "We took him out in the field with us, and at one point Angela threatened to sue us for custody if one of us didn't make him stop crying." They shared a laugh over this, and not for the first time Sweets felt like he was intruding. "We found his father, but he was no good. We, uh, solved his mother's murder and that led us to another at the rubber factory Meg worked at. We caught the bad guy and found a letter essentially giving custody of Andy to Meg's friends. The adoption papers were signed. We shared a coffee, which Bones spilled all over me" he summed up.

"You caused me to spill it!" she retorted.

Booth simply scoffed before turning his attention back to Sweets who was sufficiently impressed. "Well that's good for now I think. Is there anything the two of you want to talk about? Any difficulties or problems or stress since this started?"

"Of course there is stress, Sweets! He lost the last _five years_ of his memory" Brennan answered.

"What about you Dr. Brennan?" Sweets asked.

"What about me?"

"How have you been doing?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? This isn't about me" she insisted echoing her words from before the surgery.

"You just seem a little on edge is all" he placated.

"Maybe I am a little agitated that I will have to work with Agent Perotta until Booth returns to work" she conceded. There were other reasons she was still feeling a little off balance, but she didn't want to discuss those in front of Booth. He was after all the reason for the feeling.

"Why are you bothered by that?" Sweets asked, although he had a healthy suspicion jealousy, unwarranted or not, had a lot to do with it.

"Because she is not my partner, Booth is. Booth and I work well together and we have a … a system. She doesn't know the system. And she doesn't treat me like a partner."

Booth was unsure how he had felt about this Agent Perotta before, but now he got the distinct impression that he wouldn't like her. Bones was generally a good judge of character and didn't often dislike someone without just cause. But from the sound of it, Perotta had worked with Bones before. This made him wonder, he was Bones' partner, why would she be working with another agent? He decided that he would ask while it was on his mind. "Hey Bones? Why did you have to work with Perotta before?"

She stopped in the middle of whatever she was explaining to Sweets, Booth hadn't been paying attention, and looked him over appraisingly. "I have worked with her twice before this year. The first was when you were a suspect in the case and the second was when you … injured your back" she responded carefully. He had noticed that she seemed to do that when discussing things she felt _he_ should remember on his own. He wasn't sure if it was because she didn't really want him to remember them or if those things were significant and she wanted him to remember without prompting.

Then his mind processed the content of what she had said. He had been a suspect? Why? He stared over her shoulder for a moment as a memory floated just out of reach. He grasped desperately at the scraps: a body found under ice, a hockey stick necklace, a messy apartment, his arm in a cast, Wendell, Lucky Luc, a pretty blonde. For now it wasn't making sense. Was the blonde Perotta? He still couldn't remember why he was a suspect even.

Deciding to let that one simmer for a bit he focused on the second time. He had injured his back? How had he done that? And why hadn't Bones just fixed it like the time before? He remembered vaguely being doped up on painkillers. Wait, when was the 'last time' Bones had fixed his back? Sometimes not really remembering drove him half crazy. This time the half memory led him away from what he had been trying to remember. His back had bothered him so bad he had let her drive. She had offered to fix it but he refused. Finally he gave in and she stood behind him with her arms up and around under his arms and back behind his head. She had rotated their bodies around then snapped whatever it was back into place. His mind flitted back to its original thought. Why hadn't Bones just fixed it again? Then he realized she had, kind of. He had begged her to fix it again and instead of making it feel better, it had actually made it worse. Most of the time between then and dinner, alone a couple of nights later was a little fuzzy. He remembered a reluctant Bones doing the thing for his back again and the blonde walked in with food. A short conversation he couldn't remember took place before both women ended up leaving.

Sweets and Bones had continued to have a conversation while Booth sorted through his thoughts and memories. He resurfaced just in time to hear them making plans for the next session. "Don't I get a say?" he asked.

"No. Until the doctor clears you, you have very little say in anything because I will be driving you around" she told him matter of factly.

Resigning himself to that fact, Booth simply rolled his eyes and sat back again. Sometimes it felt like they were married, not just partners.

*~BONES~*

As the two neared Booth's office once again the blonde woman Booth had assumed was Perotta walked out. Seeing him she smiled brightly. The smile dimmed a bit when she noticed Bones. This was enough to confirm his suspicions that he wouldn't like her. Sure she was pretty and leggy and blonde, but she had nothing on _his Bones_. He stopped that thought in its tracks and smiled back at the blonde.

"Hello Agent Perotta. Is there something _my_ partner and I can help you with?" Bones asked, with a barely distinguishable emphasis on 'my', gesturing to the recently vacated office.

"Hi Dr. Brennan. No I had just heard that Booth was here and I stopped by to say 'hello'." Turning to Booth she continued, "So how are you doing Booth?"

"I'm doing fine. Bones is taking good care of me. I hear you two will be working together again until I return to work."

"Yes, I can't wait" she answered with false enthusiasm.

"Hopefully Cullen will approve your return after next week" Bones directed at him.

"We'll see."

"Well, I should probably get going. It was good to see you back around Booth. You too Dr. Brennan" she added almost as an afterthought.

After the interaction another memory surfaced. It must have been after Bones had worked with Agent Perotta the first time. They were alone on a skating rink with the disco ball going. She had made a comment about Perotta and he assured her that they would always be partners. She had laughed and told him that everything changes; it's a fact of nature, of her precious science. To him science didn't matter at that point. All that mattered was that they would always be partners if he had anything to say about it. No one could come between the two of them. They had skated holding hands or with him holding her waist. She had laughingly said he would make her fall. His heartfelt "I'll never make you fall Bones. I'll always catch you" rang through his head.

He hadn't realized that he had said the last part until he saw her face. She was standing about a foot away from him, facing him. The look on her face was somewhere between overjoyed and curious. He loved the way her brow crinkled just a little when she didn't understand something. Once again he ran scenarios through his head. He could pass it off as just having another memory. He could take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. He could repeat what he had said and wait for her reaction. He could pour out his heart to her right here and now. Somehow though, none of those options felt right. Instead he looked her straight in the eye and asked a question that had plagued his mind for days. "How on earth could I have ever forgotten _you_?"

She was taken aback. That was not what she had been expecting. She had recognized the words he practically whispered as what he had said that night at the skating ring. Hearing them surprised her, more because she didn't know the trigger than the memory itself. When she looked up at him, she hadn't really expected a response. At the most she had expected him to tell her what she already knew, he regained another memory. The question he asked threw her for a loop. What was she supposed to say? Rationally she knew that it was a result of the coma and brain surgery. Logically she knew it would be practically unheard of for him to lose everything from a year _before_ he met her and still remember her. Emotionally though, she had been asking the same question. Him waking up and not remembering her had broken her in a way she didn't know was possible. The connection they had was stronger than anything she had ever felt.

Before she could formulate an answer though, he had crossed the small space between them and dropped a quick, gentle kiss to her lips. It happened so fast that she almost thought she had imagined it. Pulling back a little he said, "Come on Bones, let's go home." Placing a hand at the small of her back he led her through the building, neither commenting on the kiss or the reference to 'home'. Internally however, that's all either thought about.

Booth worried that he had pushed it too far, crossed that damned line he had set up, and damaged what they had. She didn't seem uncomfortable though. There was still a tension to her shoulders, but she had a lot to deal with at the moment. At least she didn't seem more tense. She hadn't told him never to do that again or slapped him. Ok, she would probably flip him onto his back. Regardless, she hadn't reacted negatively and it had felt like the right thing to do. There was no awkwardness or whatnot. Instead, it felt like he had kissed her every day of his life. Likewise there was something so natural about referring to 'home' as if they both lived there together. He realized that that was what he really wanted, now he just had to convince her.

Brennan overanalyzed as usual. Was he just doing this because he didn't remember everything? When he regained his full memory and the knowledge of all her faults and their differences and … and well everything, would he decide it was all a mistake? She didn't think she could handle that. And what about the line? He was the one who put it there. What if them being together romantically meant the end of their partnership? What if she allowed herself to admit that she was in love with him and he left like everyone else in her life had? But he seemed confident and sure and comfortable. And the kiss, brief as it was, had been perfect. Not earth shattering, and there were no fireworks as Angela would say, but it had felt _right_. As far as him referring to going home, it was a natural slip. She had stayed with him since before he was released it was his home. Secretly though, thinking about the possibility of 'home' belonging to the two of them warmed her from deep within.

*~BONES~*

**Author's Note****: Thanks for continuing to read and review this series. Thank you also for the suggestions and constructive criticism. I hope everyone enjoyed this. Unfortunately there aren't too many coworkers that I am aware of for him to interact with. Coming up in future installments will be more Parker, contact with Jared, Brennan returning to work (though I warn you I'm not making this a case oriented story so don't ask), a celebratory party, and the budding relationship. Although not necessarily in that order. As always, feel free to ask questions or give suggestions.**


	6. Pieces of My Heart

**Pieces of My Heart**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****, ****Picking up the Pieces****, **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together****, and ****Bits and Pieces**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

Word Count: 5859

*~BONES~*

They returned 'home' fifteen minutes after they had left the Hoover building and fell into a routine that had been set in the short time they had stayed together since he was released from the hospital. He went to relax in the living room, as per her orders, while she went to the kitchen to find something to eat. The domesticated routine did not go unnoticed by either partner, but like the kiss earlier neither commented on it.

Booth watched the TV unseeingly. He kept replaying the day in his head. That morning he had been overwhelmed by, well he wasn't even sure what it had been. There had been too many fragmented memories to keep track of, let alone recall. Then he had remembered the thing with Cam about Bones. Taking the time to think about it now, he could see the shock clearly evident on the woman's face as she realized that Booth's loyalties lay with the woman she couldn't stand. The bits he had recalled on the platform a while later had been more pleasant. Remembering how the team worked so well together was good for him. He guessed it was still the same, but had noticed that there was a different energy now. Maybe that was because he wasn't 'normal' or maybe it was because Zach was gone. Whatever the reason, it had bothered him some.

That afternoon he had recovered some more significant memories and shared a secret that he was sure he had never had any intention of ever sharing. He had also discovered some feelings that he was pretty sure had been there, but hiding for a long time. Actually, he knew they had been there a long time, because even when he hadn't remembered her, he had felt drawn to her and craved her presence. It was as if she was a part of him, as cliché as that sounded even in his head, it was true. That second day in the hospital, when he had woken with her in his arms, he had known somehow that he loved her more than life itself. He had also made himself a promise then. He had promised that he would act on his feelings when he started making real progress regaining his memory. Well, now he had. He was a little worried that she had yet to say anything about it though. The drive home had been silent, not uncomfortably so, but still silent. Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he turned his attention to what was playing on the TV, a hockey game.

Meanwhile, Brennan was in the kitchen trying desperately to focus on the task at hand. Her mind kept flashing back to two things. Oddly enough, both had taken place in his office. The first was the startling confession of what had transpired with the Mala Muerte gang leader. She had known at the time that beating the crap out of him at the FBI building was probably not the smartest thing she had ever done, but she had to. She had to stand up for herself; she had made a promise after all. But she had never expected that he would order a hit out on her for it. It's not like she had embarrassed him in front of his gang. And Booth! She had been very upset at the time that he had missed the service. Then he had shown up claiming he had had to finish something. Now she felt bad for having been upset. He had been late because he had been doing what he always had, protecting her. She was a little surprised at the lengths he went to though. When he had first told her what he had done, she had been mad. No worse than mad, but not because he had felt he needed to protect her. The fact of the matter was she had been mad he had taken such a risk, putting his life and career in jeopardy. This new development scared her quite frankly. Granted, it wasn't the first time she had felt that way but it bothered her that he had done so much for her and she had never known.

The second thing that seemed to be running on a continuous loop was the kiss. Thinking back over the years, she guessed she shouldn't be surprised. There had been something between them almost from the start. She knew that everyone thought she was oblivious, but she didn't miss the looks or flirting or subtle hints. She chose to ignore them for several reasons. The primary one being that she was afraid to lose what they had if she acted on it. Everyone she had ever loved ( her parents, her brother, Sully, Michael, David, she could go on) had left her eventually, or she had left. She was not very good at the whole commitment thing. Besides, they disagreed on so many things that it could not have possibly worked and if it had blown up in her face, well she didn't want to think about that. Another reason had been the 'line' he had talked about, the one that couldn't be crossed between coworkers. He had reinforced it several times over the years with lectures on people you just couldn't have sex with because there were too many strings. So she had ignored the feelings she felt and the hints from him for her own sanity. Now he had gone and threatened all of her hard work with one kiss that hadn't even lasted for a full steamboat. The last kiss that they had shared had been a little easier to ignore. She was able to rationalize it as a tradition and a payment of sorts for Caroline. With that kiss she could pretend that there were no romantic feelings. This time, rational was not an option. Try as she might, there was nothing that she could use to explain it away. She tried to convince herself that Booth was just grateful or confused or something along those lines, but it didn't work and that scared her. Because now if he decided he wanted to pretend it hadn't happened, she wasn't sure that she could.

*~BONES~*

She was broken out of her thoughts by the TV announcing the score of a hockey game. Glancing at the clock she was shocked that a full twenty minutes had passed and she was still standing in front of the pantry. She shook her head, closed the door and opened the drawer that housed his takeout menus. At this rate, she would never manage to make them anything suitable. Walking around to the living room with menus in hand she stopped short to watch Booth a moment. He was far too relaxed considering there was a game on. She carefully approached him only to find him seemingly lost in his own mind. "Booth" she called hesitantly.

"Is dinner ready?" he asked looking at her, his eyes still not quite focused.

"No, I decided to order takeout. Do you have any preferences?" she asked holding out the menus.

He glanced over them for a moment before selecting the menu from his favorite Chinese restaurant, outside of Wong Fu's of course. She nodded taking the menu back and heading for the phone. There was no need to ask what he wanted, if anything they were creatures of habit. On the paper menu notes had been written in the margins noting the dishes that Booth, Parker, and Brennan liked. She noted that all of the menus had similar makings. Seeing her name in the midst of his and his son's caused the same warm feeling she had felt at the mention of 'home' to flow through her. Laughing at her insanity, she picked up the phone and quickly placed their order before returning to the couch.

"So, what are you thinking about?" she asked noticing that once again, he was not actually watching the game on the TV.

"What?" he asked turning to her.

"I asked what you were thinking about."

"Oh. Well, I was thinking about today" he answered simply.

She waited a few moments for him to elaborate, but he didn't. "Anything in particular?" she finally prompted.

He was silent for a minute waging an internal battle before he decided to answer her honestly. "I was thinking about everything that's happened today really; the things I remembered. But mostly I was thinking about what happened in my office just before we left" he confessed barely above a whisper.

"So was I" she admitted after a beat of silence.

"I think we should probably talk about it Bones."

"It is ok if you regret it" she quickly interrupted. "I know that you are overwhelmed and confused right now and I don't blame you. I am sure that it is natural to …" she trailed off looking at her lap, hoping that he wasn't going to say it was all a mistake, but afraid he was. If it was just a result of him being mixed-up, she would have to pretend to be unaffected. She knew she could do it, 'it wouldn't be the first time' she thought flashing back to the mistletoe kiss , 'it will just be harder' she silently admitted.

Booth studied her face as she spoke, trying to read what she was not saying. Was she trying to tell him _she_ regretted it and wanted to pretend it had never happened? Or was she just afraid? Lifting her chin with a bent finger he met her gaze. As he studied her face, memories of a similar occasion flitted in the back of his mind; standing outside the dinner assuring her there was more than one kind of family. The look on her face practically broke his heart. She was afraid he didn't mean it; she was terrified he would take it back. "Oh Bones" he whispered pulling her into a strong embrace. "Of course I don't regret it and it has absolutely nothing to do with me being confused."

Bones smiled into his neck feeling twenty pounds lighter. She hadn't even realized that her heart had literally been weighed down with her uncertainty and fear. It wasn't a declaration of eternal love, it wasn't a promise that everything would be perfect, but for now it was enough. "Good" was the only thing she could think to say. As she wrapped her arms around him, she laughed a truly happy laugh and he joined in.

Their moment was interrupted however, by the doorbell. Reluctantly moving away from him, Bones made her way to the door to pay for the food. She reentered the room holding a bag filled with cartons of Chinese food.

The two ate as they watched the rest of the game and talked a little about the things he had remembered that day.

*~BONES~*

Around 11 that night, Booth was woken from where he had fallen asleep on the couch by the phone. Groaning he just managed to pick it up without bothering Bones who was using his chest as a pillow. "Hello?" he asked groggily.

"Seeley? How are you? Sorry I hadn't called earlier, but I just got the message. What happened?" the voice on the other end rambled.

"Jared, do you have any idea what time it is here?" Booth was more awake now, but a little more than slightly irritated by his brother's late night call.

"Sorry man, I just stopped in at the embassy and there was an urgent message left for me by Brennan telling me to call. What happened? Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm ok. What do you know already?" Seeley asked trying to gauge where to start and how deeply he would have to get into this tonight.

"Not much. The message just said that Brennan had taken you to the hospital and I should call as soon as I could" Jared informed the older Booth.

Seeley sighed preparing himself for the conversation ahead. He almost wished that Bones was the one dealing with this. "It's a complicated story, so don't interrupt ok?" After securing Jared's promise he continued. "Bones took me to the hospital because I was hallucinating. Turns out I had a benign brain tumor. They did surgery to remove it and were successful, but there were problems with the anesthesia and I was in a coma for four days. I'm fine now, except that as a result of the coma, I got amnesia and lost the last five years."

Jared couldn't believe it. His older brother had a brain tumor? Seeley was supposed to be invincible, just look at what happened with the Gravedigger and when he was shot. Then again his luck must be holding out if they got the brain tumor out and everything was fine. But everything was not fine, Seeley had amnesia. Jared couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to wake up and not remember the last five years of his life. Before he could gather his thoughts enough to think of anything to say he heard, "It's just Jared. Go back to sleep Bones." This new tidbit of information gave him a starting place.

"Brennan's there with you? What's going on with the two of you?" Jared asked.

"I tell you I had a brain tumor, brain surgery, and amnesia and the first thing you ask about is my relationship with Bones?" Booth asked incredulously with a little humor belying his irritation.

"Well, you said you were fine. And what was I supposed to say? 'How the hell did you get a brain tumor?' or how about 'What's it like to have amnesia?' Besides, the Brennan thing is more interesting. When I left you two were still denying you were anything more than 'just partners'."

"After everything that's happened, we realized differently, ok? It's been a hard week for us."

"Wait, you said you lost five years" Jared interrupted.

"Yeah, and your point is?"

"You didn't meet Brennan until four years ago."

"I know that. Like I said it's been a hard week." Booth glanced down at the woman lying in his arms, making sure she was asleep before continuing, "I think it's been harder for her though. She waited by my side for the four days I was in the coma and when I woke up, I didn't even remember her. I can't even imagine what I would do if it was the other way around. She disappeared for about a half hour when the doctor showed up, then she came back and acted like everything was ok. I don't know how she did it."

On his end Jared shook his head in disbelief at how strong Brennan really was. "But everything's ok now?" he asked.

"Yeah, the memories are coming back. And I will probably be back at work by the end of next week."

"You never did know how to take it easy did you? Hey, do you need me to come back or anything?"

"No, you stay in India. How is it there anyway?" Booth asked happy to shift the conversation away from him for a while.

*~BONES~*

Half an hour later, Booth hung up the phone and contemplated if he should wake Bones or just carry her to bed. The decision was made for him though when she opened her eyes when he tried to shift her weight off of him so he could stand up. "What's going on?" she asked barely awake.

"I was just about to take you to bed. Come on" he prompted holding his hands out to pull her to her feet. Yawning she allowed him to pull her up and lead the way to the bedroom.

"How's Jared?" she asked as she crawled under the covers.

"He's good. He's having a lot of fun over there, and so far he hasn't gotten into any trouble."

"That's good" she replied already half asleep again.

"Yeah, it is" he agreed as he pulled her already sleeping form to him kissing the crown of her head. "Goodnight Bones".

Tired as he was though, Booth couldn't force himself back to sleep. Instead he lay there and stared at the ceiling. His mind was processing what Booth could only assume were memories but none of it made any sense. He was standing on a pier watching Bones wave off some boat named after her. He was standing in front of nearly empty bleachers trying to talk a man out of shooting himself. He was staring at a holographic image that made his blood run cold and he had to find Bones. He and Bones were trapped in a room with a high pitched noise crushing their skulls. He was shooting a clown's head on an ice cream truck. He was looking through the trap door of an elevator at a mess of human remains. He was staring into a purple pool containing floating body parts. He was knocking Bones to the ground to shield her from a bomb. He and Bones were sitting on a bench watching Parker on the carousel. Bones was handcuffed to a bench watching two men drive away. He and Bones were standing in the doorway of a hospital room watching a family with a sick daughter.

It was times like this, when nothing seemed to fit that drove him crazy. Images that had no connection other than him being there, and usually Bones too, flying by like a slide show in quick succession and no understanding. Sometimes, if he focused hard enough, he could stop the progression of images just long enough to place the other, less familiar faces. Sometimes he could figure out where the image takes place or why, if only vaguely, it's important. Sighing, Booth once again closed his eyes and hoped for sleep. As he started to drift off yet another series of memories came upon him. These however were more detailed.

He was lying in a hospital bed and Bones was wearing a pretty dress, she left to go on her date with … well someone, but returned less than a minute later claiming her head hurt and she would just stay with him to watch some TV.

A late session with Sweets and Bones is in another pretty dress ready for another date. This one however was canceled on her and she thinks relationships are all temporary at best. He tells her "There is someone you're meant to spend the rest of your life with. You just have to be open enough to see it." At the time he says it he wishes she could see that he's talking about _them_, but knows she doesn't.

There's a knock at the door and he answers it while buttoning up his shirt. He's surprised to find Bones there coffee in hand. To his horror, although he doesn't know why, a leggy blonde (he can't remember her name now, Tara, Tessa, it doesn't matter) comes out wearing only one of his dress shirts to see him off.

Now he's knocking at her door in the morning with coffee. Bones answers the door in a silky robe and bed hair. She takes the coffee and a man comes out of her room wearing only a towel. Booth is jealous and wishes he were anywhere else but is glad to be dragging her away from him.

Booth is standing in an apartment, Bones' he thinks, with another man (the same one from the hospital) and sees a manuscript for Bones' latest book. He notices the title he disliked is crossed out and the book's dedicated to him. The three toast with beer but the carefree attitude ends abruptly at the voice on the answering machine.

Bones is in the hospital and he barges in ignoring the nurse telling him he 'can't go in there' and makes his way to Bones, examining her face for himself. She says something about telling him not to come, but she's hurt of course he came.

He's in her office and gets a call from her asking him to come to New Mexico and 'Get federal on their asses.' This makes him smile and he promises to be there as soon as possible.

He's sitting at the counter at Wong Fu's and looking at a picture of a young Bones. She looks happy, really truly happy in a way he's never seen her. He promises himself he'll help her find out what happened to her parents.

They have just found her mother and as much as she hides it and denies it, he knows she's falling apart inside. So he shows up at her place at one in the morning with Chinese food and a charming smile.

The pieces continued to float through his consciousness as he drifted off to sleep. The last coherent thought he had is that none of these memories have anything to do with work. They were definitely more than partners and had been for a long time.

*~BONES~*

Brennan woke before the sun, as usual, the next morning. Lying in bed with her head resting where his shoulder meets his neck she thought back to what had started this. She had never been more scared in her life as when he had started talking to nothing in that interrogation room. Actually, if she was honest with herself, that was not entirely true. She had been just as scared when Booth lay battered and burnt after being thrown across her kitchen by that bomb, and as she kneeled next to him trying to stem the flow of blood from the hole in his shoulder, and when he was trapped by the Gravedigger with time running out. She only paused momentarily to consider two thoughts before pushing them to the back of her mind. The first was that she was more afraid when Booth was in danger than when she was. The second was that their lives were far too dangerous in and of themselves.

She was mad at herself that she hadn't realized something was wrong before she did. He was seeing dead people! But the first was easy to contribute to a head injury. The second was just as easy to explain away. He was under a lot of stress and had been injected with who knows what kind of drugs. If seeing a dead friend helped him get off that ship, who was she to complain? In truth she was grateful and inclined to believe that Teddy was some kind of guardian angel as long as Booth was safe. Still she was a scientist and should have known better. Maybe if she had taken him to the hospital sooner things would have turned out differently. Maybe he wouldn't have suffered from amnesia.

Then again, if it hadn't happened the way that it had, what were the chances that she would be lying where she was? She knew that they had had feelings for each other for a long time, but neither had been willing to admit it, even after all of the traumatic things they had been through. If those things hadn't pushed them into action, what were the chances that either would have acted over a simple benign brain tumor? Even now she wasn't entirely sure what it was that had prompted him to kiss her. She was still not entirely sure that he would not decide to take it back once he regained all of his memories. Maybe at the moment he didn't remember about the line and why _he_ felt it was so important. Maybe he didn't remember all of the differences and difficulties between them.

Those thoughts firmly in mind she made a decision. When he woke up, they would have a serious talk about the kiss and what it meant. When they had tried that last night they hadn't gotten any farther than him saying he didn't regret it. Still, not regretting something and wanting to continue something were not necessarily the same thing. Before she got too carried away in the things she was feeling, she had to tell him about everything. She had make sure that he knew all about the line and the differences. He had to know what he was getting into. If this was going to work, he had to know everything about both of them and their lives. Bones shivered involuntarily before pulling away from Booth's warm body to make some coffee. She was sure they would both need it this morning. Besides, she needed to get some distance from him so she could organize her thoughts. As much as she didn't want to, she would have to tell him every reason they should not be together and every reason that they weren't already and every reason that they wouldn't work. Then she would have to sit back and hope that he recognized what she was doing and that she wanted this more than anything.

*~BONES~*

Two hours later, Booth woke to a cold bed. Looking blearily at the clock next to the bed, he was surprised to see it was already 9. Stretching, he pulled himself out of bed and walked out of the room to find Bones. He found her sitting at his dining room table with a pad of paper and a now cold cup of coffee. "Morning Bones. Working on your book?" he asked.

Startled by his unexpected presence, Brennan jumped when Booth addressed her. "No, this is something more important" she said not lifting her head from the paper. "There should still be some coffee."

Booth was confused and a little concerned about the seriousness in his partner's tone, but he got himself a much needed cup of coffee before sitting down across from her at the table. "What's going on Bones?"

"We need to talk and I need you to listen to me, not just argue. This is important."

"Ok" Booth replied hesitantly, "What do we need to talk about?"

"Us" was the simple answer. Booth blanched a little at the detached tone she used and the suddenness of the conversation. So far they had shared only one kiss and she already wanted to have _the conversation_. Then again, this was Bones and he was sure that she had never done anything in the normal way in her life.

"What about us Bones?" he asked cautiously.

Finally she looked up and Booth could see the myriad of emotions swirling in their blue depths. So despite the early hour and his reluctance, Booth decided that he would take this conversation as seriously as she seemed to want to make it.

"There are some … some things that you need to know before we start anything. I don't know what all you remember right now, but there are some things you _have to_ know before you decide if you want to have a relationship with me or just leave it as it is." Brennan's blue eyes bored into his brown ones trying to convey the truth she knew was inherent in that simple declaration.

"Ok, why don't you tell me then?"

Brennan took a deep breath and looked needlessly down at the pad of paper. She had memorized the list at least an hour ago, but it gave her something to focus on other than him. She figured she'd start with the simplest point first. "To start with, you told me that there is a line that some people can't cross. A line that coworkers shouldn't cross. I don't really know all of your reasonings, but you were very adamant about the -" she stopped abruptly when she noticed him trying to hide a smile behind his coffee cup. "Is this funny to you?" she demanded.

"No Bones, I promise you it's not funny. I was just thinking that I have regretted saying anything about that damn line since it came out of my mouth. That was just a reaction I had to what happened to Cam. I thought that it would have been easier to deal with her being hurt if we had never dated. I was afraid that if something happened to you I wouldn't be able to handle it."

"You remember that?" she asked searching his face to see if he was telling the truth or just making excuses.

"Yes I remember that. We were sitting in the park watching Parker on the carousel" he added to emphasize his point. "What else is on that list?" he asked teasingly. If all of her objections were like this, it would be a piece of cake.

"We work together" Brennan started deciding to deal with related topics.

"I'm aware of that Bones. It would be hard to be partners if we didn't" he teased.

"Booth! I need you to take this seriously."

"Sorry, I'll try I promise. So … we work together."

"Yes we work together. Do you really think we would be able to keep our personal and professional lives separate? Because we would have to, to a certain extent. And what if us having a romantic relationship meant we couldn't be partners Booth? What we do, solving murders, it's important. And you once told me that if you take one of us, any of us away, …" she trailed off not wanting to get sidetracked with memories of the Gravedigger.

"You and Hodgins are in that hole forever," Booth whispered. The memories were still painful for him and he tried not to think about any of the times Bones' life had been in danger because of her, _their_, job.

Brennan's head shot up as he finished her thought. Apparently more of his memory was back than she knew. If he remembered that conversation, she dreaded to know what else had surfaced. In a way she had hoped that some of the horrible things they had been through never had to be remembered. She was curious as to what else he remembered, but now was not the time. "Exactly. We are the center Booth, 'and the center must hold'. Is it really worth it to risk that for a romantic relationship?" she asked herself as much as Booth. She continued on, however not giving him time to respond. "And if we were to start dating, what would happen in the field the next time someone has a gun? It would be too dangerous for either of us to be distracted by our concern for each other in the field. If we lose focus, one of us could die."

This time he took a moment to gather his thoughts and prepare a rational argument to plead his case. He only had one chance of convincing her, and he had to make it count. "Bones, you can't honestly tell me that you don't have feelings for me and I can't say I don't care about you. I have for a long time now. And we have been in too many situations where one or both of us could have been hurt or killed." Here he paused gauging her reaction. Seeing that she was at the very least accepting the logic behind what he had already said, he continued. "If the feelings I have for you were going to compromise us in the field, they would have already. And I think that the way we feel about each other makes us a better, stronger, more dedicated team. All of us, even the squints. We're a family Bones and we look out for each other. If we didn't love each other the way we do, we would have given up on finding you and Hodgins, or not found you when Kenton took you. Or you all wouldn't have found me on the ship. We are better because we care about each other."

Bones was shocked. She had never really thought about it like that, but he made a good point. The feelings they all had for each member of the team is what kept them all together and made them so good. If it wasn't for that connection, she, Hodgins, and Booth would probably be dead, Angela would have left a long time ago, and Zach, well Zach probably wouldn't have gotten the chances he did. Wiping a tear that had formed in the corner of her eye thinking about what might have been, Bones sighed. "Fine" she conceded, "but what if we break up? What happens to us and the team then?" she countered.

"There's an easy solution to that problem" he answered. At her curious gaze he continued, "We just never break up."

"Booth, it is impossible to say that nothing will ever happen to us that will break us apart. It is completely illogical to expect to live happily ever after."

"Who said anything about 'happily'?" he inserted, but she continued on as if she hadn't heard.

"We are too different for that anyways. You would want to get married, but I don't believe in marriage. And you are a religious person. I don't really see the logic in religion. That would be a problem for us. And what about kids? I know you would want more children -"

Here, he effectively cut her off with a, "So do you Bones. Unless you have changed your mind again in the last week or so." While she was temporarily speechless he continued, "And as for marriage, we wouldn't have to ever get married. We could live perfectly happy lives together without ever officially getting married. Any other differences we have can be worked out. If they haven't broken our partnership up yet, I don't see why they ever should."

"But I have never had a really committed relationship. I don't know if I can" she countered secretly overjoyed that he seemed to remember enough about the two of them to effectively overrule all of the problems she could come up with.

"So you have commitment issues? We have been together for four years now and you haven't felt the need to run yet. And I haven't left yet. I'm not going to. You can't get rid of me."

For a long moment, they simply stared at each other from across the table in utter silence. She was waiting for any flicker of doubt to cross his face or another reason this couldn't work to occur to her. He was waiting for her to see the truth behind what he had just said. He would never leave her as long as he had any say in it. It was still too early to say 'I love you' but he hoped that he had managed to convince her to give them a chance.

Finally a brilliant smile broke out across her face and he was reminded of the picture in her parent's file. She looked unbelievably happy, and this time he was the reason. The next thing he knew, she was next to him with her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips not quite touching his. "You can't get rid of me either" she whispered just before she brought her lips to his for a _real_ kiss.

*~BONES~*

Author's Note: I hope that this newest installment lives up to the expectation of my readers and is not too fluffy, although we all love a little B/B fluff. As always I appreciate feedback in the form of questions, sugestions, or constructive critisism. Thank you to all of those who have taken the time to continue to review my stories, you are the primary reason I keep writing them. The next part will probably be loaded no later than Wednesday, but I make no promises.


	7. All the Little Pieces

**All the Little Pieces**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****, ****Picking up the Pieces****, **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together****, **

**Bits and Pieces****, and****Pieces of My Heart**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

Word Count: 5984

*~BONES~*

"So what are we going to do today?" Booth asked as they were cuddled on the couch later.

"Well," Brennan answered, "I have to go by my apartment to pick up some things. I should probably go into the Jeffersonian for a couple of hours. Oh and I need to call Russ."

"Russ?" Booth inquired. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but not enough for him to place it.

Bones stopped at the question. Sometimes it was easy to forget that he was missing so much still, especially after the conversation they had had earlier that morning. "Russ, my brother. His youngest daughter Haley's birthday is coming up and I need to find out what the plans are and what to get her."

Booth closed his eyes and tried to piece together any fragments of memory. It was Christmas and Bones was on the other side of a window surrounded by her family. Booth froze the image and searched the faces for Russ. Picking out his face, Booth them searched the rest of his mind for the face of Russ Brennan. They were standing in Bones' living room talking about their kids as she got some beers; they toasted but the light mood was shattered by the voice on the answering machine. The two men were standing next to a decrepit Ferris wheel talking before Booth left his business card. The two were talking at the diner when someone took a shot at Russ. He and Bones were talking when Russ showed up and Booth had to arrest him; Bones convinced him to let Russ see his little girl at the hospital first. "I remember. Haley was the one in the hospital right?"

"Yes, she has Cystic Fibrosis. She's doing much better now though. What else do you remember?"

"Just little pieces" he admitted. "I can remember you all at Christmas. I remember I was with him when he was being shot at. At some point before your father showed up, we all shared a drink at your apartment. And …" Booth trailed off not knowing if he should say anything about having tracked her brother down at one point or not.

"And what?" she pressed.

"And nothing. I thought I remembered something else, but it turns out I didn't. I did have an interesting dream last night though" he tried to change the subject.

"What was it about?" she asked turning to face him.

"I think it was pieces of memories, but I could be wrong. Sometimes it's hard to tell."

"Tell me about them."

Booth thought back for a couple of minutes trying to recover the things he had remembered the night before. Deciding to start with the smaller pieces he organized them as best he could. "Well, there was one where we were standing on a pier watching a boat sail away."

"Sully" she said quietly. When he turned confused eyes to her she explained. "Sully worked for the FBI. When you were suspended for shooting that clown head" here she paused to make sure he knew what she was talking about. When she saw the recognition in his eyes she continued. "Sully and I worked a case together. Then we started dating. When he bought a boat and decided to go sailing for a year, he asked me to go along. That morning you came to the pier to see if I went with him."

"Why didn't you?" he asked genuinely curious but grateful none the less.

"I couldn't just leave my work for a year to go sailing. Besides," she added reluctantly, "I didn't really want to leave you."

He smiled at this and leaned down to give her a little kiss before placing the next memory. "I remembered trying to talk a man out of shooting himself."

"Where were you?"

"A gym I think. He was sitting in the bleachers."

"Oh, that was Chief Jack Cutler. He had killed a young man who was involved with his daughter. I stopped it though."

"You stopped it?" he asked a little surprised and a little worried that he didn't remember her being there.

"I sneaked around behind the bleachers while you were talking to him and put my hand between the hammer and chamber."

"Why in the world would you do that Bones? You could have gotten yourself hurt!" he fumed at her.

"Booth, it's ok. I didn't get hurt and we already had this argument once. Tell me what else you remembered" she placated.

"OK, well" he started sorting through images again. The next one he remembered was that image that sent him running to find Bones. Deciding to skip that for the moment; he skipped ahead to the next. "We were trapped in a small room with this really high pitched noise."

"That was just a few weeks ago. It was a case having to do with the Collar Institute. We got trapped in a resonance chamber and you saved us by shooting out the window in the door."

"Really? What were we doing in the chamber?"

"We were investigating the possibility that it was a crime scene."

"Ok, from now on one of us always plays lookout when we are in a room we could be trapped in."

"Deal. Did you remember anything else?"

"I remembered shooting the clown's head on the ice cream truck. I remembered an elevator with human remains smeared throughout. There was a purple pool with floating body parts. I think there was a bomb in a walk in safe?" he said a little unsure of the last one.

She started laughing and he was afraid that he had made that one up. "No there was no bomb, you just thought there was. It was in the Gormogon's vault. You told me that closing your eyes somehow helps when you are blown up."

He laughed a little too before continuing. "I remembered us watching Parker at the park and you being handcuffed to a bench as someone drove away."

"That was Russ and my dad. I tried to arrest him but he cuffed me to the bench. That was around the same time Russ was shot at. It was when my father killed director Kirby."

"Sorry Bones, I didn't mean to-"

"No it's fine. It's not your fault" she cut him off. "Besides, my father and I have started to work that out. Anything else?" she asked hoping to change the subject.

"That's enough for now. Why don't we go to your place to get what you need?" he answered a little mentally fatigued having to remember all the little pieces.

*~BONES~*

When they got to her apartment, Brennan moved straight through to her room to get clean clothes leaving Booth to investigate the rest of the apartment. He started by her stereo system and ran his finger over the spines of her CDs. As he did he remembered doing something similar and commenting on her choice of music and his surprise that she enjoyed jazz. Then he saw the corner of a CD hidden behind the rest. Moving it out into the open he laughed as he noticed that it was Foreigner, the ultimate guilty pleasure. That thought brought more memories back. The two of them were dancing around and he was enjoying her letting loose for once. She played the air guitar and he played the drums. Then the phone rang and she was talking to the guy she had met online. He went to get them some drinks when a bomb went off and he's is thrown across the room.

Shuddering, Booth replaced the CD at the back of her collection and moved across the room to a bookcase that covers most of the wall. On it are all kinds of books; her own strewn among other crime novels (presumably for research and reference) and text books. Among the books are framed pictures and nick-knacks. The Brainy Smurf figurine he gave her and a small toy pig (Jackson or Jasmine … no Jasper). On one shelf are a couple of pictures of Bones' family mostly from when she was a child, but there were a few taken more recently. A dolphin belt buckle catches his eye. He remembers going to get Bones for court and stepping into a room to see if Angela had seen her. She pulls an image onto the Angelator and he stops in his tracks. Then he's running and making a call to the lawyer to inform them that "Dr. Brennan can't testify today." He finds her in her office holding a piece of a belt, trying not to cry. She has finally found her mom, but at the moment that's not really a comfort.

Looking back at the contents of the shelf he notices a glass dolphin paper weight, a present from her father. He almost misses the small silver dolphin resting just in front of a wood frame. Booth picks it up and another memory fills his mind. He finally convinced Bones to go visit her mother's grave and to talk to her. He brings flowers for Bones to leave at the grave. She tells him that it is ridiculous to leave flowers and talk to a dead body, but she does it because Booth says it'll help. As she sets the flowers down against the headstone she picks something else up. She smiles when she sees that it's a dolphin and tells him it's from her father. He gently replaced the small figurine before continuing his investigation of the shelves.

Other shelves displayed various items collected from her various travels around the world. Ceremonial masks, vases, and other items documented how extensively she had traveled and he was impressed, 'probably not for the first time' he thought. Other shelves housed pictures of the team at parties and just around the lab. Many included Zach and looking at them he felt a little twinge. He would never admit it, but he had really liked the kid. In more recent pictures, he noticed that her various students and interns that were on rotation at the lab were not included. In one they were at a bar that was decorated with streamers and balloons, it included the two of them (her with her arm in a sling), Jared, Sweets, and all of the squints. He noticed a tension between his partner and brother and tried to remember why. But try as he might, he couldn't. Giving up, he walked back towards her room to see what was taking her so long.

*~BONES~*

Meanwhile in the bedroom, Brennan was packing clean clothes to take beck over to Booth's when the phone rang. "Brennan" she answered.

"Hey Tempe. How are things?"

"Everything's going ok Russ. Booth is getting a lot of his memory back so things are good."

"What do you mean Booth's getting his memory back? What happened to Booth?" Russ asked shocked at this new development.

"Oh, I didn't call you did I? I'm sorry Russ it has just been a hectic week or so. A little over a week ago Booth had brain surgery to have a tumor removed. There were complications with the anesthetic and he ended up in a coma then had amnesia when he woke up" she explained. By now the story was well rehearsed and much easier to tell than it had been at first.

"Oh Tempe! I'm so sorry. Why didn't you call?"

"I have been busy taking care of Booth and talking to the doctors and everything. I was going to call you today though. You can even ask Booth if you don't believe me."

"No, I believe you. So how is he, how much memory did he lose?"

"He's doing pretty good. He lost about five years of memory so it will be a while before he remembers everything, but he's making progress. He might even be able to go back to work next week."

"Well that's good I guess. Listen, the reason I called was to tell you that Haley decided she doesn't want a party this year."

"She doesn't want a party?" Brennan asked a little disappointed.

"No, she wants to go to this theme park instead. Amy, the girls, and I would love it if you came though. You could even bring Booth and his son. Dad already said he'd come. I figured we could make it like a family thing. What do you say?"

"I would like to go Russ, but I need to know when first" she laughed.

"Right, we're going on the Saturday after next."

"Well, I will be there but I don't know about Booth and Parker, I'd have to ask and see if Rebecca will let Booth have Parker for the day."

"What about me and Parker Bones?" Booth asked as he walked into the room.

"Hold on a minute Russ" she said into the phone before holding it away from her to talk to Booth. "Russ has invited us all to go to an amusement park with them for Haley's birthday in a couple of weeks."

"Does he know already?" Booth asked a little surprised.

"Know about what?" Bones asked back trying to figure her partner out.

"You know about" he gestured between the two of them to get his point across.

"Oh! No, I haven't said anything yet. Why? Should I not tell anyone?"

"Bones can we have this conversation later? Maybe when your brother's not waiting on the other end of the phone?"

Brennan looked to the phone in her hand almost as if she had forgotten it was there. "Right, so do you want to come with us or not?" she asked to get back on topic.

"I would love to. I'm not so sure about Parker though. I mean he would probably love to go, but it depends on whether Rebecca will let me take him."

"Russ" Brennan said returning her attention to the phone, "Booth and I will come but we'll have to get back to you about Parker."

"That's fine. Amy's calling me so I'll let you go. Take care sis."

"I will, you too Russ. Bye." After she hung up she turned once more to Booth. "So am I not supposed to tell anyone that we are dating?"

"It's not that I don't want anyone to know, but don't you think we should talk about it first before we go and tell everyone?" he reasoned.

"I guess you're right. So what do we need to talk about?" Bones asked patting the bed next to her for him to take a seat.

Booth thought about it for a moment as he took a seat. "I don't know. Do we really want to actually tell everyone or just let them figure it out for themselves? We can keep it a secret for a while. You know if we tell everyone, especially Angela, no one will leave us alone about it. Or we could just say to heck with it and make an announcement."

"I think," she started, "we should wait for a little while and see how it goes. Angela wants to do some kind of welcome home dinner party thing for you and we can tell them then if they haven't already figured it out" she suggested.

"That sounds perfect" he agreed punctuating the point with a kiss.

*~BONES~*

"Hey Bren, Booth what are you guys doing here?" Angela asked swiping her card to gain access to the forensic platform.

"Well Bones wanted to get some work done, personally I don't know how she went four days without doing any work, and I wanted to come hang out. It's better than hanging around my apartment by myself, since she still won't let me drive" Booth answered when he noticed that Bones was too engrossed in her work to answer herself.

"Mr. Edison, what do you make of this mark on the fifth and sixth vertebrae?" he heard her call out to her grad student. Booth blocked out the rest of that conversation and shifted his focus to where Angela and Hodgins were conversing a little ways away. As he watched them a series of flashes occurred to him. Hodgins was talking to him about proposing a couple of different times. Booth was Hodgins' best man and they were watching as Angela and her dad walked down the aisle. Hodgins and Angela were looking for her first husband, who she barely remembered. Said husband showed up at the Jeffersonian and turned everything upside down. During a case, he and Bones learned that one of the suspects was Angela's ex-girlfriend. He vaguely remembered a time when the two couldn't even talk to each other. At least now they were getting along again.

Looking around he finds that he's comfortable here, which is weird because he can remember a time when it made him uncomfortable. He had told Gordon Gordon, right here in fact, that the lab was too shiny, too clean. "Death is not clean … especially murder" he had said. Besides that he used to feel his IQ drop walking into the building surrounded by so many geniuses. But somehow that feeling of alienation had changed. Maybe it was because Bones never thought him stupid, maybe it was the way the squints took him into their group, maybe it had happened when they were working together trying to save Bones and Hodgins from the Gravedigger. Whatever the reason, he felt as comfortable here in this lab as he did in the field or an interrogation room.

Leaning against the railing, he turned his attention back to his partner. She had the most adorable, he would die if he used that word to her face, expression on her face when she was absorbed in her world of bones. She would get so focused that she became oblivious to the world beyond the table in front of her and the bones under her hands. It didn't matter if she was looking at the bones of a recently murdered person, a civil war soldier, or someone who died thousands of years ago, to her they were all equally important. She was as determined to find out the who, what, and how of the life _and death_ of any remains that found their way to her table. Now that he thought about it, her dedication to justice for everyone was one of the things that had first attracted him to her. It was also what had helped to convince him to let her be more active in their cases and stand up for her with Cullen even after she shot Ken Thompson.

He was broken out of his thoughts by a voice off to his left. "Booth, sweetie, when would be a good time to throw you a surprise party?" Angela asked.

"You are asking _me_ when a good time to throw _me_ a surprise party? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? It can't be a_ surprise_ party if I _know_ about it."

"Fine" Angela laughed, "so it won't be a surprise party. When would be a good time for your _non-surprise_ party then?"

"This weekend. That way when you get hammered you don't have to worry about work the next morning."

"I resent that remark. I would never" at a disbelieving look from him she adjusted her statement, "ok, I would, but I have no intention of getting wasted. The weekend is great though. That gives me four days to plan!"

"Ang, there is no need to plan anything. We can all just meet up at the diner or the Founding Fathers bar."

She gave him a look that clearly told him she thought he was crazy, but didn't say anything about it. "So how's the memory coming along?" she asked instead.

"Yeah Seeley, is it getting any better?" Cam added as she drew close enough to join in.

"As a matter of fact it is. It's a slow process, but all the little pieces are starting to fall into place. It's just a matter of time" Booth answered honestly.

"That's good Seeley. I was thinking about stopping by tonight to check on you, maybe bring you dinner."

"That's thoughtful Cam, but I think Bones was planning on making us dinner tonight."

Cam smiled, albeit a little forcedly, and took the hint and backed off. When she had learned that of all the people they had worked with she was the only one he remembered, she had selfishly thought that maybe they could give it another go. Now, however it seemed that things were close to where they had been before the surgery. Booth and Brennan were once again so close they might as well be married.

*~BONES~*

Two hours later, Bones found Booth napping on the couch in her office. Leaning against the doorjamb she studied her sleeping partner. His strong face was smoothed out and looked younger when he slept. He looked comfortable despite the snug fit on the couch. To accommodate his length, his feet were propped up and hanging off the arm of the couch closest to her door. His head was pillowed on the arm on the opposite end. The blanket that was usually laid across the back, was spread half heartedly across his torso. She was surprised when Angela came up behind her and laid a hand on her arm, motioning her back out into the hallway.

"So Sweetie, what happened?" Angela pried.

"I don't know what you're talking about Ang" Brennan tried to cover.

"You're lying and you're bad at it. So what has happened between you two since you were here yesterday?" she tried again.

"Well, we ate lunch at the diner. Then we stopped by the Hoover building, had meetings with Cullen and Sweets, talked to Agent Perotta – which reminds me, until Booth is back at work, we are working with Agent Perotta. Then we … went home, had dinner, talked some, watched some TV, and went to bed" she stalled.

"What happened between seeing Perotta and going home Bren?" Ang asked picking up on the hesitation in her best friend's account. She hadn't missed the 'home' reference either, but the first was almost guaranteed to be juicer gossip.

Brennan looked through the door at her partner again and a smile spread across her lips. She then looked around the hallway to make sure that there was no one around to overhear. "Ang, don't freak out, but he kissed me" she informed her friend in a hushed voice.

Angela clasped her hands over her mouth just in time to muffle the squeal that erupted. Once she had regained her composure she asked, "So, what was it like? Why did he kiss you, I mean not like he wouldn't have eventually, but why now, I mean then?"

"It was completely spontaneous, I don't know why he did it. And it was nice. It didn't even last a full steamboat, but it was nice."

"Steamboat?" Angela questioned while smirking at her friend's unusual terminology.

"Yes, steamboat. When Caroline had me kiss Booth under the mistletoe, she told me to kiss him for five steamboats" she explained.

Initially Angela was a little put out that her favorite non-couple had kissed and she had missed it, twice now, and Bren hadn't volunteered the information either time. But then she thought about who they were and the fact that the previous kiss has obviously not lead to anything and relaxed back into happy mode. "So it was just one kiss? That's it?"

Ang watched in amusement as Bren blushed and once again looked around the hall. Finally Bren pulled her into the office and over to her desk. "We have kissed some more today" she admitted in a hushed whisper glancing furtively in the direction of the couch. She managed to firmly cover Angela's mouth before she once again squealed at the admission. "Shhh! Do you want to wake him up?" At the mischievous glint in her friend's eye, she amended, "Don't answer that."

"So are you two like dating now?" she asked while bouncing on the balls of her feet, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Yes we are and you can go tell the rumor and collect on the bets if you want" sounded from the corner of the room. Both women turned surprised to hear him answer since they thought he was still asleep.

"Booth! How long have you been awake?" Brennan exclaimed.

"Long enough, Bones. You look happy Angela" he commented.

"Oh Sweeties, you have no idea how long I have waited for this! You just made my week!" she exclaimed hugging Brennan tightly. "No, my year!" she amended rushing over to hug the now standing Booth.

They both simply laughed as she practically ran out of the room with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. As she started gathering her things to leave, they could hear "Hodgins, you'll never guess what Bren and Booth just told me!" resounding down the hall.

"So much for waiting to see how things work themselves out" Brennan said with a resigned sigh.

*~BONES~*

Once they had returned to the apartment, Brennan went out to buy some groceries for dinner and Booth took advantage of the time alone to call Rebecca about arranging their weekend with Parker. "Rebecca, I need a favor" he said essentially once she answered the phone.

"What do you need Seeley?"

"Bones' brother invited us to go to an amusement park with his family the weekend after next and I wanted to bring Parker."

"Seeley, you're supposed to have him this weekend not next. You want him two in a row?"

"I'm aware of that Rebecca, that's why it's called a favor. And although I would love to have him both weekends, I am willing to trade with you. Come on Rebecca, he'll have fun with Bones' nieces."

"Fine, we can trade weekends. So, you are going with Dr. Brennan and her family?" she asked intrigued.

"Yeah. It's Haley's birthday and they are going to the amusement park instead of having a party" he explained.

"I thought Dr. Brennan's brother didn't like you. Didn't you arrest him?"

"Yes I did, but he understands I was just doing my job. We get along ok now. Why are you so interested anyway?"

"It just surprised me is all. Are you and Dr. Brennan dating or something now?" she asked only slightly kidding.

"Yeah, or something" Booth responded a little uncomfortably.

After a few moments of silence from both people, Rebecca got back to asking more relevant questions. "So what amusement park are you going to?"

"They don't know for sure yet, but Russ mentioned something about Kings Island."

"That's in Ohio!"

"I know where it is Rebecca. That's why I will need to pick him up Friday night. We're going to have to get an early start."

"Fine, call me later with the details. I'll let you tell Parker when he gets home from his friend's house."

*~BONES~*

"Booth, I'm back! You wanna give me a hand with these bags?" Brennan called as she opened the door.

Booth jumped to his feet and arrived just in time to catch a bag perched precariously between her knee and the wall. "Think you got enough stuff Bones?" he teased as they began unpacking the bags.

"Not really. When was the last time you went to the store or cooked a real meal? You can't live off of takeout alone" she chastised.

"Well, I've been doing a pretty good imitation of it thus far."

She merely scoffed. "So, what did you do while I was out?"

"I called Rebecca. She said we could take Parker with your family, but I don't get him this weekend."

"That actually works out for the better though, doesn't it? Angela is planning that party for you this weekend and you would have to leave him with a sitter."

"I guess. So do you know where we're going?"

"No, but I have to call Russ back to tell him Parker's coming. I'll find out then."

"Why don't you call him now while I make us some lunch? You've been waiting on me since I got home. I am capable of taking care of making lunch" he said adding his charm smile for good measure.

She smiled as she passed him, but was stopped by his hands around her waist. She was about to question him when he pressed a quick kiss to the corner of her mouth.

As she waited for Russ to answer the phone, she wandered around the apartment. After a few rings she heard her older niece answer the phone. "Hi sweetie, it's aunt Tempe. Is your dad there?"

"Hi! Just a minute. … Dad! … So are you coming with us for Haley's birthday?"

"Yes, that's what I want to talk to your dad about."

"Hey sis, what's up?" she heard her brother ask.

"Booth talked to his ex and Parker can come with us."

"That's great, I'd love to meet him."

"Booth had a question though, actually I think it was Rebecca, but that doesn't matter. Where are we going?"

"We haven't made up our minds yet. It's either gonna be Bush Gardens or Kings Island."

"Ok, well let me know when you decide so we can pass that along to Rebecca."

"Umm, you seem to be using that 'we' word a lot there Tempe" Russ commented not even trying to hide his amusement.

"Well, if you must know, Booth and I are dating, so by definition 'we' is the appropriate word to use" she rebutted with her own amusement. The conversation carried on a while longer with the two catching up on things until Booth announced that lunch was ready.

*~BONES~*

During a lull in the conversation over lunch, Booth thought back to the last things he remembered before falling asleep the night before. "Hey Bones why did it take this long for anything to happen between us?"

"What?"

"Last night, I was remembering a lot of things that happened between us that had absolutely nothing to do with work, and I was just wondering why we didn't act on our feelings sooner."

"We talked about that this morning. We were both worried about it interfering with work and us getting hurt. What were you remembering anyway?" she deflected.

"Lots of things, you know. I remembered being in the hospital after the whole Kenton thing and that black dress you were wearing."

She smiled at the memory. "You remember the dress I was wearing!" she asked in disbelief.

"Of course I do. You turned down a date with internet guy to sit in an uncomfortable hospital chair in your pretty dress and watch TV with me."

"Yes, well to be honest, after I met him in person I wasn't all that impressed. I just pretended to be because you are so cute when you are jealous."

"I was not _that_ jealous" he defended.

"You had him in an interrogation room!" she countered. When she had stopped laughing, she continued, "So what else did you remember?"

"There was another night that you didn't go on a date and hung out with me in another very pretty dress, green I think."

"I didn't cancel that date though" she reminded.

"I know that. But I meant what I said in Sweets' office. Do you remember what that was?"

"What about being each other's surrogate relationship?" she teased. When he looked slightly less than amused, she answered more seriously. "You said that there's someone out there to spend the rest of my life with and I just had to be willing to see it."

"Ok, if I say something now do you promise not to go running for the hills?"

"Ok. I promise" she answered uncertainly.

"I was talking about me Bones. I was talking about us." As he said this he took her hand, partially in anticipation of her fight or flight reflex and partially to keep a connection with her. The room was deathly quiet for so long that he began to worry.

Just before he opened his mouth though, she smiled and said "That's good, because that's what I hoped you had meant. Now was that all that you remembered?"

He had to laugh at that. Only Bones could take a comment like that in stride and continue with the conversation as if he had informed her that he had ordered a pizza over Chinese. He second thought for a moment whether or not he should sensor what he told her, but realized that she would see right through his attempts to shield her in any way and would not appreciate the gesture.

"I also remembered two very uncomfortable incidents."

"Uncomfortable for who?"

"Both of us. The first time you met Tessa and the first time I met Mark?" he questioned his memory of the name.

"Yes, it was Mark. And yes that was very uncomfortable for you."

"For me? What about you? As I recall, you were more than a little flapped to see Tessa come out of my room wearing only my dress shirt."

"Moving on!" Bones announced, effectively putting the matter to rest for now with a glare.

"I also remembered you being in the hospital. I don't remember much about that, but I do remember practically having to tackle a couple of nurses to get to you."

Bones thought for a moment trying to figure out what he was talking about. "New Orleans" she suddenly said as she placed the fragment.

"What about New Orleans?" asked a very confused Booth.

"That's where I was" she answered in a calmer, quieter voice. "After Hurricane Katrina, I volunteered in New Orleans to identify remains and while I was there, I was drugged and injured. One of the other doctors was murdered. Anyway, I woke up on the bathroom floor of my hotel room covered in blood and called you. You came down to help me figure out what had happened because the drug had wiped out any memory I had of the previous 24 hours."

"I vaguely remember something about an earring. It was your mother's I think."

"Yes, my mother's earring was ripped out at the scene and you saw it and removed it to protect me. The detective in charge of the case was already convinced that I had killed Dr. Leger."

"That's ridiculous, how could anyone think you could kill someone?"

"I have though, I shot Pam and killed her. And the circumstantial evidence was significantly stacked against me" she answered honestly.

"That doesn't matter and the Pam thing is different all together. You shot her in self defense."

"Fine, I will concede to that. Why don't we move to the couch? This chair is getting a little uncomfortable."

After moving to more comfortable positions on the couch Booth continued to tell her about the things he had recalled. "I remember you calling me out to New Mexico to help Angela with something."

"Kirk, her boyfriend went missing in the desert and a skull was found. She called me to identify it and I called you to get them to let me examine it."

"We stayed in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere."

"Everywhere there is out in the middle of nowhere. And yes, it was Kirk's place. We did eventually find him."

"And the girl he was with, what was her name? The sheriff's sister."

"Danni, her name is Danni. And yes, we found her, alive."

"That sounds like a good place to stop for now. Hey, we haven't had a proper dinner date yet. How about you go home and put on a nice dress and we go out?"

"That sounds like a very good idea. See you in about an hour and a half?"

"It's a date" he deadpanned before walking her to the door and kissing her goodbye.

*~BONES~*

**Author's Note****: Thanks for sticking with it this long. I don't think this one is really up to par, but oh well, I hope you enjoy it anyway. Coming up, I'll do a little with Perotta and Bones working, the party for Booth, and the trip to the amusement park. As always, I appreciate comments, suggestions, and questions.**


	8. The Date

**The Date**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****, ****Picking up the Pieces****, **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together****, ****Bits and Pieces****, **

**Pieces of My Heart****, and ****All the Little Pieces**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

Word Count: 5626

*~BONES~*

"It's just dinner!" Brennan chastised herself as she stood wrapped in her robe in front of her closet. "With Booth as your first real date" a voice in the back of her head taunted. She had never worried this much about what she would wear for _anything_, let alone a simple dinner date.

Then again, there was nothing simple about this date. This was, _hopefully_, her last first date. This thought stopped her dead in her tracks. Did she really want to spend the rest of her life with him? Booth drove her crazy, they argued constantly, he insisted on displaying alpha male tendencies, he was always butting into her personal life. He could almost always make her laugh, he understood her and her issues, he accepted her as she was, he was patient when she didn't understand, simply hearing his voice sent shivers of joy through her. If she were honest with herself, which she tried always to be (except when it came to her feelings for Booth), he was her … something. 'Soul mate' was too cheesy and unscientific, 'meant to be' was too much like believing in fate, 'other half' made her sound dependant on him, 'perfect fit' was closer.

The more she thought about it, only one word seemed right for what they were 'partners'. She knew that they had always told everyone that they were "just partners" but that's what they were in the most all-encompassing sense of the word. They were partners in and out of work. They worked together as equals and always took the other's opinions and ideas into account regardless how different they were from their own. They were connected in a way she couldn't really comprehend. She laughed aloud as she realized that neither had ever lied to anyone about their relationship. They were and always had been 'partners'. Until now they had simply ignored the non-professional aspects of that partnership.

Sighing again and looking at the clock next to the bed, her eyes widened as she noticed the time. She was supposed to be at Booth's in twenty minutes and she still had to find something to wear, put on make-up, and fix her hair! Making a decision, she picked up the phone. When the line connected she was instantly calmed by the sound of his voice. "Booth, I'm going to be a little late getting there. It shouldn't be more than an extra" glancing at her clock again she did a quick mental calculation, "twenty minutes."

"Sure Bones, is everything ok?" Booth asked slightly concerned.

"Everything's fine it is just taking me longer to get ready than I anticipated. See you soon."

"Ok, be careful and I'm sure you'll look fantastic" he enthused before hanging up.

Slightly more relaxed Brennan took another deep breath and once again dialed a very familiar number. "I need your help. I don't know what to wear and I've never had this problem before. I was supposed to be ready in ten minutes, but I haven't even picked a dress yet and –"

"Sweetie, breath and start at the beginning. Why do you need my help?" Angela interrupted.

"Booth is taking me out to dinner. Well, technically I am taking him because he still isn't cleared to drive. Ang, I don't know what to wear!"

"Calm down Bren" Angela coached while smiling at her friend, the world renowned forensic anthropologist and bestselling author, who was thrown into such a tizzy over getting dressed for a date. "Now, where are you going?"

"I don't know, Booth wouldn't say. All he said was to put on a nice dress" Bren informed her.

Angela thought for a moment of her options. She could drive over to Bren's, but that would definitely make her late. She could have Bren describe her dresses, but thought better of it. Suddenly she got a brilliant idea. "Bren, I need you to take pictures of all your dressy dresses and send them to me. I'll call you back when I pick."

"Ok, I'll do that. … Oh, and Ang? Thanks."

"Hey, what are best friends for?" But before Brennan could answer the call had been disconnected.

Looking back woefully at her closet, she began to pull out her various dresses and using the camera of her phone she took pictures of each held up to her in the full length mirror. There were a couple that she was pretty sure she wouldn't wear, but Ang had said to send her pictures of _all_ of the dresses. Among the dresses she didn't want to wear were the black one from David's canceled date, the green from Mark's, the dress she had worn the night she got the call from the Gravedigger, and the little black and red dresses Booth had bought for her in Las Vegas.

After having sent the pictures, she waited anxiously for her friend to call her back. She couldn't even do her hair and make-up until she knew what dress she was wearing. She had just hung the last dress back in the closet when the phone rang. "Brennan" she answered as always.

"Sweetie, you have some explaining to do! When did you get those little black and red dresses and why haven't I seen them before now?"

"They're Roxy's" she offered by way of an explanation.

"Roxy's? Who's Roxy?"

"Roxy was the alias I used when Booth and I were in Vegas. He bought them for me as Roxy."

"Ok, we'll talk about that later. Right now we have a date to get ready for. I've looked at all of the choices and I think we have a winner!" she announced.

"Ang! I am in kind of a hurry here" Brennan reminded her.

"Oh, right. And the winner is … the off the shoulder amethyst dress with some really sexy black heels and your hair down but pinned back a bit."

"Are you sure about the dress Ang?" Brennan asked as she removed it from her closet and held it up in the mirror again. It was off the shoulders, had a sweetheart neckline, a tailored bodice, and a full skirt that ended just at the knees. She had to admit that Angela had great taste. The color really brought out her eyes and played off her pale skin.

"Positive. Oh, and Sweetie, no clunky jewelry, please?"

"No clunky jewelry" she affirmed. "Thank you Ang. I owe you."

"Yes you do and I expect a full report with all the juicy details when I see you tomorrow!"

"Good night Angela" Brennan laughed hanging up the phone and moving to the vanity to put on her make-up.

Five minutes later, she walked out of the bathroom and carefully slid on the dress before moving over to her jewelry box to pick out appropriate accessories. Settling on a simple, elegant, antique necklace and earring set, she returned to the bathroom to pin back the front of her hair and put on the jewelry.

Double checking her appearance as she walked out of the room with her heels and purse in hand she smiled. Between the smokey eye shadow and the jewel tone of the dress, her eyes were a brilliant shade of pale blue and her lips were a subtle dusty rose.

*~BONES~*

Booth closed the door and ran his hands through his hair thinking about what needed to be done. He had to figure out where they were eating, possibly try and get reservations, shower, find a nice suit (not just one he wore to work), plan something for after dinner and he only had an hour and a half! Dropping his hands to his sides, he crossed the room to the phone book to look up the number of the restaurant.

"Hello, may I speak to Marcos please?" Booth asked when the call connected.

"Just a moment please. May I ask who's calling?" the maitre de asked.

"Seeley Booth" he responded.

A few minutes later a familiar voice came through the phone. "Seeley Booth! To what do I owe this unexpected call?"

"Marcos, I was wondering if I could possibly get a table tonight."

"But of course. When?" the friendly voice asked.

"Two hours?"

"I will get you the best table in the place. She must be a special girl for you to pull strings" Marcos laughed.

Booth laughed along with him before seriously answering "Yeah, she is."

"I will see you at nine then my friend."

"See you at nine. And thank you Marcos."

"Anything for you Booth." Then the call was disconnected and Booth moved off to the shower.

Twenty minutes later, he was showered and cleanly shaven looking through his closet for the perfect suit. After tossing aside the fourth shirt in a row he burst out laughing. "Oh my God! I'm turning into a girl!" he exclaimed to the empty room. He was an attractive man and had never had trouble impressing women. He had never been one to really think about what he was going to wear. At work he wore a black suit and white shirt with the first fun tie he came across. When he dressed casually he had a good array of nicely fitting tees and jeans. For dates anything in his closet would suffice, _usually_. But here he was standing in front of his closet with his nicest suit trying to find the perfect suit, shirt, tie combo.

Finally he settled on the tailored black suit laying on his bed, a light blue shirt, and a tie that was the perfect blend of class and fun. Satisfied he glanced at the clock and saw that Bones was supposed to be back in twenty minutes. He had just pulled on his pants when the phone rang.

Glancing at the caller ID he smiled when he read the name. "What's a matter Bones? Couldn't wait any longer to talk to me?" he teased.

"Booth, I'm going to be a little late getting there. It shouldn't be more than an extra twenty minutes" he heard from the other end.

"Sure Bones, is everything ok?" he asked slightly concerned.

"Everything's fine it is just taking me longer to get ready than I anticipated. See you soon."

Booth was amused and a little relieved that his no nonsense Bones was worried about what to wear tonight too. Deciding not to comment on that particular thought he simply said "Ok, be careful and I'm sure you'll look fantastic."

Setting the phone back down, he returned to the bedroom to finish getting ready. Before long he emerged from the room with his hair gelled meticulously, and his suit jacket hanging from his hand. Checking the time again and seeing that he had plenty of time, he pocketed his keys, wallet, and phone and left in search of the nearest flower shop.

Once he was down in the parking lot he had to laugh again at the fact that Bones was still driving _his_ SUV. Shaking his head, and making a mental note to get it back from her as soon as possible, he set off in the direction of the flower shop that was about two blocks down the road.

Reaching the shop, Booth began searching it for the perfect flowers to get her. Normally roses were the flower of choice for someone you liked enough to be willing pay the higher price, and although he was more than willing to pay it, Temperance Brennan was not a normal girl. Roses would not mean that much to her. So he moved on. There were several very pretty ready-made bouquets, but they didn't feel personal enough. Finally in the back corner of the shop he saw a group of daffodils. A faint memory tugged at his conscious, something to do with daisies and Jupiter. "Perfect" he muttered as he made his way to them. Although the memory was faint, the implication was clear enough, Bones loved daffodils. Smiling, he picked out a dozen and moved off to pay for them. His purchase secured in a bag, he began the walk back to his apartment to await Bones' arrival.

*~BONES~*

At 8:30 Brennan pulled up outside Booth's apartment surprisingly calm considering her earlier fit of nerves. The more she thought about it, the better she felt about this date. She and Booth could talk about everything and knew each other's histories so there should be no first date awkward conversation. They had already kissed so that would not be an issue. And they had both already admitted to their feelings, so that wouldn't cause problems either. Taking a breath, she walked into the building and waited impatiently for the elevator.

Meanwhile, Booth was pacing nervously in his apartment. He wasn't exactly sure why he was nervous, but he was. Actually that wasn't true, he had a few ideas what was making him nervous. First, this was _Bones_, she was unlike anyone he had ever dated. She was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with and tonight could make all the difference. If their first date didn't go well, she may decide that their relationship's not worth it and he'd have blown his one chance. All that sappiness aside, she was _Bones_ and unlike other girls, what he usually did to impress them wouldn't work on her.

Suddenly he was startled by a knock at the door. Walking quickly over, he took a deep calming breath and wiped his hands down his pant legs. Taking one more deep breath, he opened the door with his classic charm smile in place. When he saw her, however, the smile that replaced it was one of genuine surprise and delight. She was always beautiful, even when she was knee deep in mud and remains, but now she was absolutely gorgeous. He stood in the doorway speechless and unable to move.

As the door opened, Brennan looked up to meet Booth's eyes. He looked exceptionally good in that suit and the shirt made his eyes sparkle, or maybe it was just her. After a couple beats of silence in which he was practically frozen she couldn't help but laugh. "Booth? Are you alright?" she asked through her laughter. When he didn't answer, she got an idea. Shifting closer to him, she leaned up on her tip-toes, braced her hands on his shoulders, and kissed him soundly.

Booth was shocked out of his stupor when Brennan suddenly kissed him. He quickly regained his senses and joined in the kiss. Pulling away a long moment later a smile once again graced his attractive face. "Well, if that's the response I get for being speechless, I oughta do it more often" he quipped stepping aside to allow her into the room.

"I take it that you approve of my attire?" Brennan responded dryly.

"Well, it's not _bad_ I guess. Could be better" Booth responded just as dry.

She simply slapped his arm in rebuttal. "Well, where's your jacket? We should get going."

"Hold your horses Bones."

"Booth, I do not have any horses."

God she was adorable sometimes. "It's just a saying Bones. It means be patient" he responded as he walked to the chair his jacket was draped over. When he reached it however, instead of simply grabbing the jacket as she expected, he shifted his body to block her view and stooped a little to pick something up off the seat of the chair.

"Booth, what are you –" but she cut off when he turned around holding a beautiful bouquet of daffodils. "My favorite" she said breathlessly.

"I know" was the simple reply.

"But how did you –"

"I walked to the flower shop a couple of blocks up. And when I saw them I just knew. By the way, is 'Jupiter' still your password?"

"No" she replied indignantly. "After you called it out like that in the lab, I couldn't very well use it. It would be a security hazard."

"Aww, Bones don't be mad" he prodded holding the flowers out to her.

She pretended to think about it for a minute before taking the proffered flowers with a dazzling smile. "So where are we going anyway?"

"Nope it's a secret."

"Booth, it can't be a secret! _I'm_ driving! I have to know where I'm going."

"No you don't. I can be a good navigator and tell you how to get there."

Brennan was hard put keeping up an air of annoyance at him. Sometimes he could be so childish. Then again, that was one of the things that she loved about him and made him such a good match for her. How was it that Sweets had put it? They complement each other. Rolling her eyes, she turned on her heel and headed to the kitchen to find a vase for the flowers. "You can be such a child" she chided as she once again walked to the door.

"Am not" Booth responded as he held the door open for her.

*~BONES~*

Fifteen minutes later Brennan felt completely lost. "Are you sure you know where we're going?" she asked for the tenth time.

"Yes Bones. Just one more left and we'll be there."

"Where's 'there'?"

"Bones, do you trust me?" he finally asked.

"With my life" she answered without hesitation.

"Then why are you so convinced I'll get us lost?" he retorted. Before she could think of a suitable retort he was pointing out a drive up ahead to the left. "Turn there Bones. I told you I knew where we were going."

The car was quiet as she ignored the smug tone of his last comment and focused on parking. When she turned her attention to the building across the parking lot her breath caught in her throat. The place was small but beautiful. The building itself was white with large bay windows. The view through the sheer curtains was of pure elegance. Most of the tables that she could see were only large enough for two. Each was laid with elegant tablecloths and lit with candles whose light shimmered off the crystal and silver and china that lay on the tables. Around the building was a beautiful garden that shone in the night with twinkle lights strewn among the shrubs and trees. The entire place had an air of slightly understated elegance. There was nothing flashy or gaudy to attract attention. No gold ornamentation or rich colors meant to establish an atmosphere of luxury.

By the time that she regained her faculties, Booth had already come around and opened her door. He simply stood and watched the astonishment wash across her face with a blinding smile on his own. He was glad that he had remembered his old army buddy in all his excitement. Simply the look on her face made it worth it.

Turning to face the man standing patiently beside her she struggled to find words for the various thoughts rushing through her head. Finally she settled on "Booth, how did you ever find this place?"

"The owner is an old friend of mine. Now are you coming or are you going to sit out here all night?" he asked, the humor back in its rich tones.

In answer she stepped from the vehicle and took his offered arm as she locked the doors.

Walking in the couple was greeted by the maitre de, "Welcome to Marcos'. Can I have your name please?"

After giving his name, they were ushered past several tables as well as a dance floor and band that hadn't been visible from the front to a table that looked out onto the rear gardens. After looking over the menu for a few minutes they ordered their meals and a bottle of wine before returning their attention to the world around them. The atmosphere was perfect for couples. The low lighting and music floating on the air set a romantic mood and allowed for a measure of privacy.

"So, what do you think?" Booth asked taking Brennan's hand from across the table.

"It's wonderful" she breathed.

"I'm glad that you like it" a third voice said as a man approached them. Brennan glanced up startled but Booth easily recognized the voice. "Booth, how are you my friend?"

"I'm great at the moment" he said deciding that now was neither the right time nor place to go into recent events. "Bones, this is my friend Marcos Benifici. Marcos this is my girlfriend Temperance Brennan" he introduced.

"It's very nice to meet you Marcos. Your restaurant is beautiful."

"Thank you very much, and it is a pleasure to meet you too Temperance." Turning his attention to Booth he continued, "Booth, why in the world would you call such a beautiful woman 'Bones'?"

At this both partners laughed. "Bones is a forensic anthropologist so she works with bones. When we first started working together I started calling her Bones as a joke, and it kinda stuck."

"I thought the name was familiar," Marcos said turning his focus once again to Brennan. "You're also an author, are you not?"

"Yes, I write as a hobby" Brennan answered honestly.

Marcos simply smiled, "I would say it's a very lucrative hobby."

"You have no idea" Booth contributed sending a teasing smile Bones' way.

"You two enjoy yourselves and feel free to walk the gardens, I have other people to smooze" Marcos told them with a friendly smile.

When he walked away, the conversation turned to how Booth knew Marcos. Apparently, they had both served in the Rangers together prior to Booth going into sniper school many years ago and had kept in touch in the intervening years. Both had grown up in Philadelphia and after learning this had bonded quickly during basic training.

Conversation easily flowed from that into stories on both sides from their childhoods in happier times. Bones shared stories about her mother's cooking and her father's wacky experiments and how protective Russ was. Booth shared stories about the pranks he and Jared used to play on neighbors and the priest that had encouraged his faith and his grandfather.

Soon their food arrived and the conversation changed direction again to more immediate things. "Bones, you have to try this lasagna. It's amazing" Booth announced holding out his fork laden with the pasta to her. She considered him for a moment before conceding and allowing him to feed her the bite.

"You're right that is god, but this is better. Try some" she countered.

"What is it again?" he asked uncertainly.

"Eggplant parmesan." At his dubious look she simply raised an eyebrow in challenge.

He cocked his own brow, but soon admitted defeat and tried her dish. When he tried to hide the fact that he did in fact like it she laughed outright. He grinned sheepishly. "You win, ok? It was pretty good."

As the meal progressed conversation once again flowed easily and while they talked about the squints they managed to keep the topic of work itself at bay. Brennan filled in the gaps in his memory about what had happened between Angela and Hodgins as best she could. She informed him of the major changes in Cam's life recently, namely the fact that she had taken in Michelle. She also filled in the details about Zach's incarceration and the interns that were on rotation until she could pick one to replace him. In addition she confessed that she wasn't sure she wanted to pick one. The way things were now, she couldn't get too attached to any of them like she had with Zach. He tried to point out that getting close and building a relationship with her interns wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but she was still more than a little dubious after losing Zach. Besides, this way they all got the experience working for law enforcement and with her she reasoned.

Before they knew it, they had finished the main course and a waiter had taken their dessert order. Glancing around, a smile lit Booth's face as an idea suddenly claimed him. Standing, he quickly made his way around the table and held his hand out to his dining companion. "Would you like to dance Ms. Brennan?" he asked with false pompousness.

"Why I would love to Mr. Booth" she played along giving him a coy smile and extending her hand to his.

With that, Booth led Bones out onto the small, un-crowded dance floor. As they reached the floor a new song started. Booth took Bones into his arms and they began to slowly sway to the music. After a few seconds, Booth recognized the song and began singing the lyrics softly in her ear. "Look at you by my side, still believing in us. I have put my heart in your trust. It feels just like a dream. I can't believe my eyes. I'm standing before a miracle I nearly walked on by…"

From across the room, Marcos watched on with interest. He had known Seeley Booth for a long time, but he had never seen him look so … content? happy? … in love! That was it. He had known several of the women Booth had dated and they had all been beautiful, smart women, but this one was different. There was just something about the way they looked at each other and seemed oblivious to the world around them. In this business, Marcos saw a lot of couples in various stages of their relationships from the awkward attempt to impress on the first date to anniversaries and proposals to illicit affairs, but he seldom saw the kind of chemistry he was seeing between those two. He guessed he shouldn't be surprised though. Over the last several years when they talked, the subject of 'Bones' had progressed from passing annoyance, to respect, to something more all together. Gradually she had begun to occupy more and more of the conversations, along with Parker of course.

Marcos silently wondered what had happened to tip the scales so to say. Booth had always professed that there was nothing beyond friendship between him and his partner and there never would be. As recently as a month ago the story had yet to change, nonetheless here they were unabashedly showing the world, or at least this little corner of it, how they felt about each other. If Booth was to be believed, Temperance Brennan was the most hard headed stubborn woman on the face of the planet and Marcos knew from experience just how stubborn Booth could be, so it must have taken something earth shattering to push the two past their denial and into a relationship.

The song changed and Booth pulled away from his partner a bit to accommodate the new tempo of the music. "Save the last dance for me. Baby don't you know I love you so? Can't you feel it when we touch? I would never, never let you go. I love you oh so much" Booth sang as they danced. Brennan laughed as he dipped her unexpectedly. When he righted her again, he placed a chaste kiss to her lips. She slapped his arm halfheartedly but smiled nevertheless.

When the song finished, the two returned to their table hand in hand, still oblivious to the audience they had acquired, to share the cheese cake and finish the wine that awaited them.

By the time they were ready to leave, it was already 11:00. Booth looked the check over and was slightly surprised to see that Marcos had only charged for the entrées and even then at a discounted rate. He searched out Marcos' face in the dwindling crowd and nodded his thanks before handing his credit card over to the waiter. "I hope that you both enjoyed yourselves this evening" Marcos stated as he walked over to the table.

"Oh, yes, it was wonderful" Brennan enthused slightly tipsy.

Booth simply smiled at her enthusiasm before adding his own praise. "It really was fantastic Marcos. Thank you. Now I think I better get her home."

"Booth! The doctor hasn't cleared you to drive yet!" Bones exclaimed.

"It's fine Bones. It's only a fifteen minute drive and I, unlike you, am not even the slightest bit intoxicated" he reasoned.

She seemed to think about that line of reasoning for a minute. Finally she conceded with a conspiratorial whisper. "Ok, but only because I can't drive."

Marcos laughed at her antics while wondering why Booth had been restricted from driving by a doctor. Eventually he simply asked. "So Booth, why aren't you allowed to drive?"

The expression on Booth's face darkened for a moment before returning to the carefree easiness of before. "I had brain surgery about a week ago."

"Brain surgery!" Marcos exclaimed in utter shock.

"Yeah. Turns out I had a benign brain tumor that needed to be removed. Listen, I'll tell you all about it later."

Marcos was amazed that his friend was able to talk about having had a brain tumor, benign or otherwise, so casually but attributed it to the fact that he had probably given the same explanation many times by now. "Sure, just be careful alright?"

"You bet. Come on Bones, let's get you home."

The drive back to his apartment was uneventful and quiet since Bones had fallen asleep practically before he had shut her door. Looking over at his sleeping girlfriend Booth smiled for what must have been the two thousandth time that night. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. It had been far simpler to convince Bones to give him a chance than he had anticipated and so far, everything was going great. Granted they had just started dating, but it felt like they had been together forever and they already knew the kind of things from each other's past that would usually scare someone off. They worked together, so they already understood the pressure and precedence that sometimes came with the job. They were aware of their differing viewpoints and had worked through them, to an extent (usually by agreeing to disagree). He knew about her past in the foster system and her parents' and brother's criminal pasts. She knew about his difficult childhood, some of the horrors of when he was a Ranger, and his gambling problem. She knew and loved his kid and Parker loved her. They had already been through so much, both personally and professionally, that he was confident they could get through anything.

*~BONES~*

Booth woke up the next morning to the shrill ring of a phone. Blindly groping at the bedside table, he found the offending object and answered "Booth."

On the other side of town, Perotta looked at her phone questioningly. She had been sure she had dialed Dr. Brennan's number. "Um, I'm sorry, I thought I called Dr. Brennan's cell" she stammered.

Hearing this, Booth finally opened his eyes and blearily looked at the phone in his hand. It was in fact Bones'. "You did. Just a minute" he said into the phone before turning to the woman sleeping next to him. "Bones, phone's for you." Her only acknowledgement was to wave a hand at him in annoyance. "Bones, I think it's important."

"Fine, who is it?" she asked turning over and yawning widely. In response he simply handed her the phone. His memory still wasn't up to par and although the voice was familiar, he couldn't place it half asleep. Taking the phone, Brennan blinked rapidly several times trying to wake herself. "Brennan" she said into the phone.

"Sorry to wake you Dr. Brennan, but some remains were found in a construction site and we need you to help make an ID" Perotta relayed a little uncomfortable with the situation. So they were _sleeping_ together now? There went any _prayer_ of a chance she _thought_ she _might_ have had at getting Booth. And this was not really the way she would have preferred to learn that particular piece of information.

"What's the address Agent Perotta? I'll be there as soon as possible." After receiving the address, Bones hung up and sighed. She really didn't feel like working right now, and especially without Booth. When she tried to get out of the bed, she found that a strong arm was keeping her from doing so. "Booth, you have to let go. I have to go to work."

"Fine!" he announced releasing his grip. "Call me later?"

"Sure, you can even come in to the lab or we can grab lunch."

"Am I supposed to take a cab?" he asked remembering that his was the only car there.

Bones walked out of the bathroom holding her toothbrush, "Either that or I'll come get you."

"When can I have my car back?" he called after her in a voice that reminded him of Parker when he didn't get his way.

"When the doctor says you can drive" she called back, and unseen smirk on her face.

Fifteen minutes later, she emerged dressed and towel drying her hair to find Booth pouting in the bed. "What?" she asked exasperated.

"What am I supposed to do today if I can't work and I can't go anywhere?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something" she commented as she took a seat on the bed next to him and held out the necklace in her hand. He silently took it from her and fastened the chunky jewelry around her slim neck. "Thank you. Now, I need to get going. I'll call you when I get back to the lab" she said before kissing him goodbye. After a minute, she had to force herself to stand up and out of his reach. "I really need to go and you're not helping any" she chastised.

*~BONES~*

**Author's Note**:** First a question, Booth did grow up in Philadelphia right? If not and someone knows where it really was, just let me know and I'll fix it. **

**Second, the songs I used were "The Love I Found in You" by Jim van Fleet (a small shameless plug: I have a Bones video to this song on youtube) and "Save the Last Dance for Me" by The Drifters. **

**Third, if you want to see the necklace I had in mind for what Brennan wore to dinner, here's the link: **.com/imgres?imgurl=.&imgrefurl=.&usg=_tDL1mHd_DepCzLTO9I_fTnhTZWo=&h=630&w=420&sz=65&hl=en&start=3&tbnid=kQrN4DTa-LyRjM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=91&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dantique%2Bnecklace%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4ADBF_enUS291US291

**Finally, as always, feel free to contact me with any suggestions, questions, corrections, or praise. For the couple of you waiting for the Kings Island trip, that's still about two stories away so be patient with me, I have to get some other stuff out of the way first. And if anyone has any rides or stories from Kings Island they would like to see me incorporate into the story, let me know.**


	9. Pieces of a Case

**Pieces of a Case**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****, ****Picking up the Pieces****, **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together****, ****Bits and Pieces****, **

**Pieces of My Heart****, ****All the Little Pieces****, and****The Date**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

Word Count: 7677

*~BONES~*

When the black, government issued SUV pulled up, the last person Agent Perotta expected to see climb out of the driver's seat was Dr. Brennan. "Great, now she's even driving his car?" she thought to herself disdainfully, "I guess I really _don't_ have a chance." Plastering on as sincere a look as possible, she made her way to the doctor to lead her to the remains. "Dr. Brennan, the remains are over in that building" Perotta announced when she got close enough to be heard, she had long since learned that inane pleasantries were often considered a waste of time by her companion.

"How exactly were the remains found?" Brennan questioned already in full work mode.

"This building is undergoing a major overhaul to comply with new safety regulations. The workers were checking the strength of the main support pillars before replacing the others. When they imaged the pillar, they found what's left of a body."

"Is the pillar still intact?" Brennan asked already thinking about all the ways they could have compromised her remains.

"Yes. They are in the process of putting up temporary supports so that the pillar we need can be removed" Perotta informed her.

By this time, the two women had reached the area of the structure in question. The building itself had been gutted and was empty of people except for the men finishing work on the temporary supports, the overseer, and local police. Examining the area, Brennan found that there was nothing much that she could do here. It would be too risky to try and excise the body from the cement _here_, it would have to be done at the lab with the proper tools to avoid harming the bones.

Looking around, she saw the imaging machine off to the side. "I need to have a look inside the pillar. Who knows how to work that thing?"

"That would be me" a young man said stepping forward from the group.

"Good, I need you to show me the body" Brennan told him.

A couple of minutes later, the technician had the machine working and Brennan was watching a screen intently. After a couple of minutes of intense scrutiny she walked up to the pillar with a marker and drew two parallel lines across the surface four feet apart. "I will need everything between these two marks taken back to the Jeffersonian." That being said she turned on her heel throwing a brief explanation that that was all she could do for now over her shoulder.

Perotta simply sighed. Sometimes she couldn't understand what Booth saw in her or how he could stand working with any of the squints at all. Turning her attention back to the people around her she started getting progress reports and issuing instructions.

*~BONES~*

Given the early hour of the call from Perotta, Bones was the first one at the lab despite the detour to the construction site that morning. Noting this, she made her way to her office to go through her mail and boot-up her computer. Entering her office, she hung her jacket up and set her bag down by her desk before picking up her desk phone and pushing speed dial 1. As she waited for the phone to be picked up, she turned on her computer and started sorting the mail on her desk. There were several requests for her to guest lecture or proof others' work or consult on cases for other agencies and anthropologists. She was distracted from those however when she heard his deep "Booth".

"Hey, I said I'd call when I got into the lab."

"That didn't take very long. What's up with the case?" Booth inquired. He was surprised. Usually it took close to an hour at least for her to examine the remains and them to interview witnesses, etc.

"Well, there was not much I could do. Apparently the body is incased in a cement pillar. I can't do anything until the pillar is brought here and the remains are removed" she relayed matter-of-factly.

"So what are you doing now? Just waiting?"

"You should know better than that. I don't only work on cases for the FBI. I have correspondence to deal with and bodies in Limbo and a book to write" she chastised lightly. "Now, have you decided what you're going to do today?"

"Not really, why?"

"Just curious" she answered looking up at the knock on her door. "Booth I have to go. I'll call you later."

"Sweetie, what are you doing here? I thought you were taking leave until next week" Angela inquired taking a seat.

"I was Ang, but Agent Perotta called this morning with a case, so I'm working now."

"When are we getting the remains?" Angela asked.

"I don't know, it might take a while."

"Good, in the mean time, you can help me plan Booth's surprise party!" she enthused.

"Ang, you do know that _he knows_ about the party right?" Brennan asked with a raised brow.

"Of course, but it's more fun to plan a surprise party than a regular one!"

Brennan just barely kept herself from rolling her eyes at her eccentric friend. "What can I do to help? I'm not really the party planning type."

"True, but you know Booth better than anyone. So you can tell me what he'd like and who to invite."

"There really aren't that many people to invite Ang. You and Hodgins, Cam and Sweets, Booth and me – that's really it. I don't think he has any really good friends at the FBI that he hangs out with outside of work."

"What about Booth Lite?"

"_Jared_," Brennan countered stressing his actual name, "is in India, so he can't come."

"Why is he in India?"

"He wanted to have an adventure I guess. Booth almost went with him" she added.

"What about Rebecca? Do you think she would come?"

"I don't really know, maybe."

"Oh, and Caroline. I could invite her, she's fun."

"No, she's 'puckish', but she may come" Bren corrected.

This time it was Angela's turn to roll her eyes, typical Bren. "So where should we have it?" Angela asked at length.

"The Founding Fathers' would work. That way we already have music, food, and alcohol – nothing to really plan for. Besides, I think he would like it to be something normal."

"Fine, but that's not very festive" Angela pouted. "The least we could do would be to go somewhere new, but I guess we don't _have_ to."

A few quiet minutes passed while Ang sulked and Bren read through her e-mails. Suddenly Ang's demeanor changed abruptly and a brilliant smile replaced the small frown of moments before. "So spill!" she exclaimed.

"Spill what? I don't have anything. And why would I make a mess on purpose?" Bren asked deciding to play dumb.

"Don't pull that with me, you know exactly what I'm talking about! You have to tell me all about last night."

"What happened last night?" Cam asked poking her head into the room.

When Bren didn't answer right away, Angela blurted out, "Bren and Booth went on a _real_ date! Isn't that great! I mean it only took them four years and …" she trailed off doing a quick mental count. 'Senator's aid, 'valley fever Christmas', Mala Muerte gang shooting, Kenton shooting at Bren and bombing Booth and kidnapping Bren, New Orleans voodoo, Sweet Pete in Vegas, Bren and Hodgins buried by Gravedigger, Howard Epps, Booth being kidnapped and tortured, the psychotic paramedic, taxi explosion, Pam, the Gravedigger _again_, the black knight, resonance chamber, Booth's tumor and coma and amnesia' "no less than _20_ near death experiences. Wow, you guys _really_ need to be more careful" she scolded Brennan.

"So you went on a date, huh? Where to?" Cam asked managing to hide the small twinge of jealousy from her voice. She really was happy for both of them, and it's not like she didn't see it coming. It was just that Seeley was such a good man and she really wished that she had someone like that.

Brennan blushed slightly at all of the attention, but decided that answering would be the quickest way to get this over with. "We went to this really nice restaurant owned by his friend Marcos. We ate, we talked, we danced, we went home, end of story" she said decisively.

"Awww. You danced? Was it a slow dance? Where did you dance? Is he any good? And how was the food?" gushed Ang.

"Yes, yes, at the restaurant, yes but I already knew that from Aurora, and fantastic" was the concise response.

"Come on Bren, you have to give us more than that! I want all the juicy details!"

"Juicy details about what?" Perotta questioned from her place at the door.

"Her date with Booth last night" Cam and Angela said simultaneously, one slightly more enthusiastic.

None of the three friends missed the dark look and jealous flash that crossed the agent's face at the news. She quickly composed herself though and changed the topic, "I brought the remains for you. How long do you think it will be before you have anything for me?"

"It will probably be at least two hours. It is going to take a while to properly clear away the cement from the bones. I'll call as soon as I know" Brennan informed the blonde. With a curt nod and a slightly less than friendly smile, the blonde agent turned and exited the lab.

"Well, I guess I should get to work. I forget, is Clark still here?" Bren asked.

"No, Wendell is on rotation now" Cam informed her as they left the sanctuary of the office.

*~BONES~*

Booth was sitting at the table trying to organize his memories into a timeline that he could write down when his cell rang. When he looked at the caller ID, he was surprised to see a Virginia area code. "Booth" he answered.

"Hey Booth, it's Russ. You got a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?" Booth asked genuinely curious and hoping Russ hadn't gotten into trouble again. Granted the two of them got along, but it's not like they were friends.

"First, I feel obligated to say that I know you're a good guy, but if you hurt Tempe –"

"You'll do something really bad, I know" Booth cut him off with an odd sense of déjà vu, only reversed. Oh well, he would worry about that later. "And I would never hurt her Russ" he promised sincerely.

"I know, it's just my duty as a big brother to warn you" Russ chuckled. "Also, I wanted to let you know that Haley decided that we're going to Kings Island next weekend. Since it's about a 6 hour trip, I thought that we could leave Friday night and stay over in a hotel. I was about to make reservations for us and thought I'd get yours while I was at it."

"Let me call Bones real quick and see what she wants to do. I'll call you back in a minute" Booth told him.

"Sure thing."

With that, Booth disconnected the call and dialed Brennan's cell.

Brennan was overseeing the removal of the skull from the cement when the phone in her pocket began to ring. Distractedly, she answered "Brennan."

"Hey Bones, I got a question for you."

Brennan smiled into the phone at his voice but didn't turn her attention fully away from the work in front of her. "What's that?" she asked.

"Russ called and wanted to know if we wanted to drive up Friday and stay in a hotel overnight."

"That sounds practical, but why did he call you?"

"I guess because he knows I'm not working and I have to coordinate Parker's schedule. So should I call him back and have him reserve a room for us too?" he asked.

"Yeah that sounds – be careful with that! – like a good idea. Booth, I really have to go" she said before hanging up, replacing the phone in her pocket, and rushing to the table to correct the lab assistant's method.

Booth looked disbelievingly at the disconnected phone for a minute. She had just hung up on him. It wasn't the first time she had done so, but it always surprised him nonetheless. Shaking his head, he put the idea out of his head and dialed another number into the phone.

"Hello?" a female voice answered the phone.

"Amy, hi, it's Booth."

"Oh, I'll just go get Russ." A few seconds of muffled noise filtered through the phone before Russ's voice came through with a "Hey Booth."

"Hey. I talked to your sister and she said to go ahead and book us a room too. When do you think we'll have to leave Friday?"

"Well, to get in at a reasonable time, Amy and I are leaving here around 4 so that the girls don't miss school. I don't know about you all though with Tempe working and having to get Parker from his mom."

"Alright, thanks for taking care of the room for us. I'll have Bones call you later."

"Bye Booth, talk to you later."

After hanging up, Booth looked at the clock and was depressed to see it was only 11:30. He could tell from the short conversation he had had with Bones, it would probably be 1 at least before he could get her to take lunch and there wasn't really anything to do. Tapping his pen on the table he once again returned his attention to attempting to focus and organize his memories.

Closing his eyes, he attempted to pull a memory from the recesses of his mind. He could see a series of pictures set in the diner. Bones sitting at a table with Parker, admiring his project. Him sitting with Parker on his lap while Rebecca and Captain Fantastic sit on the other side. Bones waving goodbye from the door.

Using that as his reference point, he searched for another memory. He and Bones are arguing about the acceptability of lying to children about Christmas in the car. They are crossing the street and she almost steps out in front of a car. They open the door to an apartment and flip on the lights and stand amazed at the sight in front of them. He's giddy over the train track suspended from the ceiling. He and Bones are standing in a room surrounded by Santas.

He and Bones are putting on blue containment suits and popping pills. He makes a comment about the fact that she doesn't believe in God, but she'll take pills for something that may not actually be a threat. Then they're arguing about marriage and the cop thinks they're together. The skeleton is glowing and no one, not even Hodgins, knows why and it's driving him crazy. Turns out the victim is an up and coming chef named Carly and the glowing is the result of bacteria. Eventually they find the friend that went missing with Carly locked in her trunk only to learn that she killed Carly and locked herself up. That was the night Bones made him the "food of the Gods".

There's a car burned to a crisp on the train tracks, he never will quite get over the smell of burnt flesh no matter how many cases he works. It's a high profile case because the victim is Warren Lynch, only it turns out that it's not Lynch at all. He doesn't remember how exactly they figured it out, but the body they found was a junkie that was killed then dressed in Lynch's clothing. If he remembers correctly, they went to see McVicker during that case and he claimed Max ordered the hit on Christine Brennan. He can still see the way Bones held up her mask until McVicker could no longer see her, then let it fall as doubt about everything she knew once again crept up on her.

Then, more recently, there was a body that was found by a newly married couple when they bungee-jumped off a hot air balloon. That was an interesting case, it seemed that every hour the damn alarms were going off. First it was because Cam cut into the body and the bones were foaming and letting off an odd gas. Then Hodgins and one of the interns set the body on fire. Then Hodgins found a way to stop the foaming process, but it created an impenetrable shell. It was an interesting case for two others reasons. The first, being that he got to drive a really hot car. The second, Bones accompanied him to a strip club to talk to a possible witness.

Shuddering, he changed gears and focused on a different memory all together. He focused back on the feeling of déjà vu he had felt earlier. Haley was sick and Max had told Russ that if he went to Booth, he wouldn't be arrested. Booth had had to arrest him, but had let him have fifteen minutes with his little girl first. When Russ had to go before a judge for skipping out on his parole, Booth wouldn't say anything to help, but he had already gotten Sweets and a priest to say they would keep an eye on Russ. With that and his parole officer's support, he had only had to serve a month, plus the extended parole time and ankle bracelet. As Booth walked Russ to the marshals, he had warned Russ that if he left again and disappointed Amy and the girls and broke his sister's heart but didn't get to finish because Russ had for him. No wonder the earlier warning had evoked the feeling it had.

*~BONES~*

Brennan groaned as she straightened from her bent position over the bones. It had taken them four hours to completely free the remains from the pillar. The skull had been the first priority so that Angela could run dentals and do a facial reconstruction to identify their victim. So far as Brennan knew, she still hadn't gotten any hits on the former or finished the latter. Brennan, herself, had spent the last half hour bent over the examination table cataloguing and classifying every bone injury and anomaly, only taking her focus away when her stomach protested its hunger. Glancing across the platform at the nearest clock, she realized that it had been over 14 hours since dinner and her last meal. She quickly dialed Booth's number and asked if he had done anything about lunch yet.

"Nope, I was waiting for you Bones."

"Good, I'll be there in ten minutes" she instructed. "I'll come pick you up and we can eat at the diner."

"I'll be here" he joked. With that, she rushed to her office to change her lab coat for her jacket and her purse and headed out the door.

Twenty minutes later, the two were sitting comfortably across from each other at their regular table at the Royal Diner. "So how was your morning?" Brennan enquired.

"Well … I talked to your brother about our trip – he recommends we leave sometime Friday afternoon by the way – and he reserved a room for us when he got theirs and probably your father's. He also warned me about what would happen if I ever hurt you" he told her with a smile.

"What gives him the right to threaten you? I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" she countered.

"And Russ and I both know that. It is, however, part of being a big brother to look out for your sister regardless of how self sufficient she is."

"That's ok then, I guess. What else did you do?"

"Well, I started trying to organize the things that I've started remembering. I'm getting a lot of the details back now so that makes it easier" he informed her. "So, enough about me, how was your morning?"

She heaved an aggravated sigh before delving into it. "As I told you this morning, there really wasn't anything I could do at the site, so I went to the lab to try and get some other work done, but before I could Angela got there. She was trying to plan your 'surprise' party. And then she asked about our date, and Cam just happened to be stopping in then, so they were both asking me questions about our date. And when I wouldn't go into a lot of detail, Ang started to whine about 'all the juicy details' and that's when Agent Perotta got in, so she asked what we were talking about. She did not look happy that we had a date last night by the way" she spurted out in practically one breath. Booth at least had the good grace to look sympathetic. "It got worse after that though, because it was a very tedious process removing the cement without harming the bones and any possible evidence, so Ang kept asking questions which got everyone else asking all about our relationship. And it took almost four hours to free the remains. When I left, we still hadn't managed to identify the victim. I did identify blunt force trauma to the skull and several 'fresh' breaks to the ribs, wrist, arm, and legs. I am still not sure which of the breaks were defensive wounds and which resulted from the murderer stuffing the body in the pillar mold."

Lunch passed quickly with the two discussing theories about the case, a real improvement from the beginning when she would refuse to 'speculate', although occasionally a distinctly feminine "There is absolutely no evidence to support that" could be heard over the din. When she got a call from Angela informing her that the facial reconstruction was finally finished, Brennan and Booth quickly paid and left for the Jeffersonian.

When Brennan and Booth arrived on the forensic platform, they were met by Wendell, Angela, and Perotta. "Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan, nice of you to join us" she greeted in a somewhat cool professional tone.

"Agent Perotta I didn't expect to see you here, but if you'll give me a minute I can give you an update" Brennan responded in a tone only a few degrees warmer. Turning to her boyfriend, she asked "Booth, would you mind taking these to my office while I go over things with her?" she asked in a much friendlier voice while holding out her jacket and bag.

To everyone's surprise, he took the proffered items from her and easily responded with a "Sure, do you need me to bring your lab coat back out? If not, I'll just hang out in there for a while."

"You relax, I won't need it for a while. Thanks Booth" she called after him. Walking to the examination table she once again focused her attention on the case at hand. "So what would you like first Agent Perotta? The identifying old injuries or the ones relevant to the murder?" she asked her eyes never straying from the bones laid before her and her tone cooling off once again.

"Bren, I think you can skip the old injuries for now, we got an ID from his dentals. I would have told you, but the match came in right after I hung up with you and you were already on your way here. Anyway his name is Rodger Gibson, 42. He went missing fifteen years ago in July" Angela supplied trying to break the very obvious tension between the other two women.

"Ok, so Wendell, what appears to be the cause of death?" Brennan quizzed as a way to involve and teach him as much as to avoid confrontation with the blonde agent.

Wendell looked up at her sharply in surprise. Usually Dr. Brennan was the one to discuss the facts with the FBI, well Booth. Then again, he wasn't blind and he could see that there was some tension at the moment, so instead of questioning it, he spoke up. "There appears to be a large, uneven area of blunt force trauma to the back of the skull."

"And what would account for the size and varying depths?" Brennan asked with a miniscule smile of encouragement.

"The most likely explanation is that the victim was struck multiple times with varying amounts of force" was the ready answer.

"What other relevant injuries are present?"

"There are fractures of the 5th and 6th ribs as well as the right ulna, right radius, left wrist, and several on both legs" he listed off pointing to each area of fracture as he listed it.

"Those breaks were the result of what? Putting Mr. Gibson in the pillar?" Perotta finally contributed.

"The fractures on the legs and broken ribs probably are, but the injuries to the wrist and arm are defensive injuries. He fought back against his attacker violently breaking both bones in his right forearm and his left wrist" Brennan informed her.

"Ok, so do we know what the weapon was yet?"

"No. Not yet. Because the victim was struck multiple times, we are having a hard time getting a clear and accurate cast to compare weapons to. We're still working on it though. We'll call you as soon as we know what it was."

"Alright thanks, I'll let you get back to work" Perotta said as she started walking away from the group and Brennan headed to her office.

She didn't get very far though before Angela caught up to her. "What was that all about?"

"I think she's jealous of Booth and me" she confessed.

"Well yeah Sweetie! That much is obvious to everyone. She always has been."

"What do you mean 'always has been'? Booth and I have only really been together for three days."

"Fine, you've only been dating for three days, but you've been completely wrapped up in each other for four years now. Anyone who has ever seen the two of you together knew you'd end up together. So yeah, she has always been jealous."

"Well, now she's acting on it. She didn't do that before."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'll just pretend nothing's wrong and she'll get over it eventually. Besides I only have to work with her for maybe two weeks before Booth's back."

"Before I'm back where?"Booth asked as they approached her office.

"Before you're back to work with me and I don't have to worry about Perotta."

"What about her?"

"Sweetie, you can't tell me you didn't notice!" Angela exclaimed.

"Notice what?"

"That Perotta is so jealous of Bren for dating you. She was being all snippy to her out there."

"It doesn't matter, she'll get over it. Now, we still need to figure out what the murder weapon was" she diverted.

*~BONES~*

After another hour, Brennan and Wendell gave up trying to identify the murder weapon by hand and once again took the skull for Angela to work on. "Hey Ang, do you think you could put this into the Angelator and reconstruct the skull enough to isolate the first strike?"

"I should be able to Bren. How soon do you need it?"

"As soon as you can get it done. Wendell can help you if you need" Brennan offered before leaving Angela's office and heading back to her own to do some work.

When she got there, she found Booth on the phone so she quietly seated herself behind her desk and began filling out the paperwork and organizing the reports for the case and Perotta, while trying to follow his conversation.

"Yes, we want to leave late Friday afternoon so that we can have all day Saturday at the park" she heard him explain to who she could only assume was Rebecca. "No, I don't know where we are staying yet; Russ took care of that for us earlier today … Of course I will let you know where we end up staying, but both Bones and I will have our phones with us so I don't really see why it matters … Fine … I don't mind picking Parker up from daycare on Friday, and I can pack a bag for him from what I have at my place … Well, I thought I'd pick him up around 3 … No, at the moment I can't be more specific, Rebecca, it's over a week away … Have you mentioned it to Parker yet? … Well, could I talk to him?" Then all was quiet for several minutes and Brennan assumed that Rebecca had gone to get Parker.

While he was waiting for Parker, Booth turned his attention to Bones. "So, how goes the search?"

"Not well" she admitted. "There is so much damage and the marking on the bone is so compromised by the repeated blows that it is impossible for us to get a clear idea what the weapon was by hand."

"So what are you going to do?" he asked genuinely curious.

"I took the skull to Ang. Hopefully she'll be able to isolate a single impression for us on the Angelator." Before she could continue though, Booth held up a finger and turned his attention back to the phone.

"Hey there Bub, how are you?" As Parker began to go into an animated story about his day, Booth turned on the speaker phone and set his cell down on the desk between himself and Bones.

"… and then David bet Sam that he couldn't eat a _worm_ and Sam said he _could_ but he didn't _want_ to so David _dared_ him to. It was sooo cool Dad! He _actually_ ate the worm, but then he _threw up_ and the teacher got mad. She said that both of them have to sit out recess tomorrow – have you ever eaten a worm Dad? I think it would be gross, but I would do it to win a bet. Oh, and this girl in my class, Susie, got a marble stuck in her nose …" Parker enthused barely stopping to take a breath.

Booth was trying his hardest not to laugh, but between his son's stories and the looks that crossed Bones' face during them, it was nearly impossible. As Parker continued to go on about the adventures of himself and his friends, Booth finally reached his breaking point and could no longer hold back his laughter.

Bones wanted to be annoyed at Booth for the distraction of Parker's stories, after all she had work to do and listening to Parker was not making it easy. Then again, she loved Parker and the stories really were funny, especially when told in the childish innocence that was Parker. And it was really touching that Booth wanted to include her in the conversation with his son, it was almost like she had a real family again. Not that Russ, Amy, and the girls weren't family because she really did love them all; and she had been steadily rebuilding her relationship with her father, but it wasn't the same as it had been once. They were not as close as when she was a girl and so much had happened in the interim that they never would be again. It felt good to be included in Booth's family. She was broken from her reverie by the resounding tones of Booth's laugh.

When he had composed himself and assured his son that he was not in fact making fun of him, he broached the subject that had prompted this conversation in the first place. "Hey Bub, your mom told you that we are switching weekends right?"

"Yeah, she said I have to stay here this weekend" Parker affirmed slightly downtrodden.

"Did she tell you why?" Booth ventured.

"Nope."

"Parker, how would you like to go on a trip with your dad, me, and my family?" Bones asked.

"Dr. Bones! I didn't know you were there! Where would we go?" Parker asked, suddenly much happier.

"Well, my niece's birthday is next week, and she invited all three of us to go with her family to Kings Island to celebrate."

"Kings Island! That is so cool! When?" the little boy cheered.

"Next weekend, Bub. I'm gonna pick you up Friday and we'll all drive up there, then we're going to the park Saturday. So what do you say? Are you gonna come?" Booth asked with a wink and his charm smile in Bones' direction.

"Yeah!" Parker said enthusiastically.

The three talked a while longer about plans for the impending trip and Parker's friends and anything else that crossed the boy's mind before Rebecca reclaimed the phone to finalize some arrangements with Booth.

*~BONES~*

The rest of the week passed quickly and routinely. Booth spent his mornings at the lab with Bones and the Squint Squad, ate lunch (usually at the diner) with Bones, and then had a session with Sweets before heading home for the day with some kind of assignment from Sweets meant to stimulate memories. Bones would get home about 7 and they would make dinner together and talk, watch some TV, and go to bed.

By the time Friday rolled around, there were multiple reasons for celebration. It had been a difficult case to solve, but they had eventually managed to isolate the weapon and find the murderer. The tension between Perotta and Brennan was still palpable, but it was lessening as the blonde woman came to terms with the new development in Booth and Brennan's relationship. It also helped that the two women spent as little time as possible in each other's presence and almost always made sure not to be alone together.

When Brennan returned to what she was fast beginning to think of as home (Booth's apartment), she was surprised not to find Booth right away. Venturing back into the bedroom, she found him just finishing buttoning his royal blue shirt. "Honey, I'm home" she called from the doorway teasingly.

"I can see that" he responded walking towards her. After a brief kiss, he started steering her towards the bathroom. "Now hurry up and get in the shower. How would it look for the guest of honor to be late to his own party?"

"Booth, stop pushing! I am perfectly capable of finding my own way to the bathroom" she complained swatting at his hands. Within minutes, she was relaxing under the warm spray of water letting the tension of the day slide away with the droplets. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped herself in a fluffy towel and wrapped another around her hair. She emerged from the room with a cloud of steam to find Booth lounging in the bed. Deciding to ignore him for the time being, she walked over to the closet and started going through the small selection of her clothes hanging there. Finally settling on dark blue jeans and a blood red shirt, she turned and shoed Booth out of the room so she could change.

As she dressed, she contemplated how different this relationship was from any she had ever had before. She and Booth had been dating for two weeks and had been sleeping together a little longer than that, but so far they hadn't had sex and neither seemed to be in a big hurry to get there. The relationship was not without passion, but it was about so much more than that. If she really took the time to think about why they hadn't crossed that line yet, she could only conclude that it was because every relationship that either had ever been in had been mostly about the physical. She knew for a fact that that was what her relationships with Michael, Sully, and even David had been about. She had never really allowed herself to get too emotionally attached before to keep herself from getting hurt. This time, she wanted the emotional attachment. This time she was willing to risk feeling the pain she had felt at fifteen all over again. Booth had said that they would just never break up, that they could spend the rest of their lives together, and he had sounded so sure. He had made it sound reasonable and effortless – no, not effortless (neither was naive enough to believe there would be no problems) – not effortless but _obvious_ and she trusted him implicitly.

Shaking her head to clear it of those thoughts for now, she pulled the towel from her hair and started blow-drying it and reapplying her make-up. As she walked through the apartment holding her purse in one hand and a necklace in the other, she was startled by his sudden appearance behind her. She silently held the necklace out to him, but he didn't take it. Instead, she felt him place another around her neck and fasten it in place. "Booth, what –" she started but was cut off.

"I got you a present. Don't look so surprised" he mock scolded as he led her to the nearest mirror so she could see the necklace for herself.

She had to admit that Booth had excellent taste when it came to jewelry. The necklace he had picked was beautiful in its simplicity. Hanging from a delicate gold chain was an oval locket with a dolphin carved into the front. "Booth, it's _beautiful_" she breathed.

"Open it" he whispered back in her ear.

When she did so, tears sprung to her eyes and her breath caught in her throat. It was perfect! "My family" she whispered as a smile made its way across her face and a wayward tear fell. She wiped at it embarrassedly. On the one side of her new locket was a picture from many, many years ago that featured her parents, Russ, and herself at a park all smiling brilliantly. On the other side was a picture of Booth, Parker, and herself taken about six months before at the lab. Turning from the mirror, she hugged Booth fiercely before letting go suddenly. "We have a party to get to" she announced as she made her way to the door.

*~BONES~*

When they reached the bar, it took only a couple of seconds to locate the rest of their friends. Over in the back corner was a table decorated in a very Angela inspired manner. Brennan laughed and Booth shook his head as they made their way through the crowd to the bar to get drinks before venturing back to the table. When they got there they were greeted by a loud "Sweetie!" that could be heard even over the pounding music. Both were swarmed by the small group of friends and hugs and handshakes and welcomes were exchanged before all six friends took their seats around the table and ordered some food and another round of drinks.

At first, the conversation centered around the recently solved crime and the difficulties that had come from it. It had taken days to figure out what the weapon had been. Hodgins had taken as long to find anything special enough to point to a crime scene or suspect. In the end, it had come down to a single small seed pod hidden and almost lost in the folds of cloth that had once been the victim's shirt to find a crime scene across town from the construction site. Then the problem had been finding any trace of the crime that had happened fifteen years before in what had since been transformed from a wooded area to a shopping center. Needless to say, everyone was glad that the case was done with.

The topic of conversation changed with the food's arrival to Booth and Brennan's relationship and recent date. Cam and Angela tried valiantly to drag details about the recent date from Booth that they hadn't been able to get from Brennan, but were only moderately successful. Hodgins was the least intrusive with the questioning, preferring to sit back and enjoy the antics of the others around him. Sweets, on the other hand was worse than the women. His questions, as one might expect from a psychologist, were not as easily answered or dodged as the others. When the group finally resolved themselves to the fact that they were _not_ going to get any really interesting or particularly juicy details from the two, the conversation drifted to what Angela had affectionately named "the Brennan-Booth family vacation". The partners had attempted to argue the name at first, but quickly gave up deciding that they were going to need to pick their battles and reserve their energy to get through the night.

"So how did Rebecca take it when you told her that you and Brennan were taking Parker on a family vacation?" Cam baited.

"She was fine with it" Booth said quickly, maybe just a tad too quickly. At Cam's arched brow and Angela's knowing smirk he amended slightly. "Well, it took a little bit to convince her, but she didn't really want to be the one to tell Parker that he couldn't go, so she gave in."

"So she does know that the two of you are dating, right?"

"Yes, Ang" Brennan interceded, "Rebecca knows that Booth and I are dating and she's ok with it. And why wouldn't she be? She is happily married."

"Why is it, Dr. Brennan, that you feel so defensive on the subject?" Sweets interjected.

Rather than answer, she just fixed the young man with a look of withering disdain. "She's not being defensive Sweets, she's just stating the fact that Rebecca has no reason to be upset by our relationship" Booth's statement was punctuated by an "Exactly" from the woman in question.

"Ok, ok" Sweets said in a placating manner, "I didn't mean anything by it, it was just a question."

"Get a backbone man! How do you manage to get anything accomplished in therapy if you back down at a look from her and a slightly forceful statement from –?" Hodgins started to ask before cutting himself short under the intensity of the glares aimed in his direction from the couple.

Angela and Cam just sat back and laughed at the situation. "I believe you were saying something about a _backbone_, Hodgins?" Ang teased.

"Shut up" was his irritated response, and the whole table laughed.

The next instant Angela was up and dragging the curly headed scientist towards the dance floor with a shouted "I love this song" as her only explanation. As the driving bass of the song resounded and reverberated around the bar, the others joined them on the dance floor. Cam quickly found a dance partner and Brennan and Booth, obviously, already had that covered. Sweets, who had been dragged along by the others was a little more reluctant. Angela leaned in to say something to Hodgins and when he nodded she moved over to the lone psychologist and Hodgins moved on to a partner-less beauty a few feet away.

"Come on Sweets! Dance with me" Angela called over the music.

"I don't know, Daisy –" he started but was quickly cut off by a firm tug on his arm.

"It's just a dance Sweets, I'm sure Daisy wouldn't mind. Lighten up, live a little!"

What seemed like minutes later, but was actually over an hour and several drinks later, Sweets said his goodbyes and made his way home to Daisy. Cam was the next to go, stating that it was already midnight and she needed to "get home and check on Michelle." The two couples remained for about an hour longer before Brennan complained about practically falling asleep on her feet and Booth was having difficulties hiding his yawns. "Ang, we're gonna go" Brennan informed her friend through a yawn of her own.

"But, it's still early Bren and its Booth's party" she complained.

"Sorry Ang, but we really need to go, besides, I think the party's been over for a while now."

"Fine, be an old married couple!" Ang complained. "Hodgins will stay and dance with me."

Laughing, Booth led Brennan towards the door. He had heard Angela's comment about them being like a married couple and his heart had leapt into his throat. It was no secret that he was in love with her and he was long past lying to himself about wanting to spend the rest of his life with the woman he was currently steering through the dwindling crowd. Unfortunately for both of them really, she didn't believe in marriage. They had argued over the institution many times in their four years together and as far as he could tell, her position on the subject hadn't changed. Then again, she had vowed _never_ to have kids then had turned around and suddenly announced one day that she _wanted one_. Her silence in the face of their friend's joke bothered him a little though. He was just starting to get seriously worried when she smiled slightly and took hold of the locket he had given her. He still didn't know what she was thinking, or if she would ever consent to marry him, but he did know one thing with absolute certainty. Bones was his family now, she had been for a long time and she always would be, married or not.

Brennan, meanwhile, was having a minor mental breakdown. When Ang had referred to her and Booth as a 'married couple', she had actually felt butterflies in her stomach. The fact that the thought of it didn't scare her scared her. She was Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist, novelist, foster kid, commitment-phobic. The thought of being married to anyone should have made her start running for the nearest door. But instead of running away, she felt herself leaning, quite literally at the moment, towards that possibility with Booth. Without even thinking about it, she reached up a hand to hold her new locket as a sweet smile lit upon her lips. She didn't know when or how or why, but somewhere along the way, even before the most recent change in their relationship, Booth had become her family.

*~BONES~*

Author's Notes:

Apology 1 - I freely admit that the idea about the body in the concrete pillar came from an episode of NCIS. I can't remember what the episode was called, but it was the one where a guy was trying to kill Palmer, if that helps.

Apology 2 – Sorry for skipping several days of the case, but I warned you I wouldn't make this a case fic. Besides, I felt the story was dragging and I wanted to get to the party.

Question 1 - Is the title alright? I couldn't really think of anything that was fitting.

Question 2 – Russ and his family live in Virginia right? I couldn't remember if it was Virginia or North Carolina, but VA's closer so I chose that.

Question 3 – By the way, does anyone remember Rebecca's husband's name? I could only remember 'Captain Fantastic', but that didn't seem to fit as something Brennan would say, so I just didn't use any name.

Lastly – Is the end too cheesy? Too fluffy? If so, too bad! I liked it. And as always, I welcome questions, suggestions, ideas, and constructive criticism.


	10. Pieces of a Week

**Pieces of a Week**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****, ****Picking up the Pieces****, **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together****, ****Bits and Pieces****, **

**Pieces of My Heart****, ****All the Little Pieces****,**

**The Date****, and ****Pieces of a Case**

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

Word Count: 6655

*~BONES~*

**Saturday**

When Brennan woke the next morning, she couldn't help but smile when she noticed the now familiar weight of Booth's arm draped around her waist and his faint, occasional snore. Normally, she preferred her space in the mornings, and when she was sleeping for that matter. She was not a cuddle-er by any stretch of the imagination. She was an independent woman and didn't need a man close by for her to feel secure and safe. Then again, as she had realized the previous night, nothing about her relationship with Booth could be categorized as 'normal'. Whatever the reason, when she was with him, she could do the typical girly things and be a … softer version of herself without feeling at a loss. He never made her feel less competent or strong or independent even when he was being the alpha male and taking charge of the situation. Sighing, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and gently maneuvered out of his grasp to get some coffee. It was far too early for that kind of internal contemplation without copious amounts of caffeine.

As she slid out from under the covers, she shivered in the chill of the early morning air. Looking around, she saw Booth shirt from the night before strewn across the footboard of his bed. She easily slipped into it and inhaled the scent of his cologne, aftershave, and sweat that lingered in the fabric and held the shirt tighter around herself. Stealthily making her way to the kitchen, she scoffed at herself. As the coffee brewed, the strong aroma revitalized her and she returned to her earlier introspections. Since when was she the kind of girly girl that swooned at the mere smell of _her man's_ cologne? What in the world was Booth doing to her? No, that wasn't fair, whatever changes she was experiencing, they weren't really Booth's fault. It was more about her finally letting the walls she had built around herself fall. No, that wasn't true either; the walls were still very much intact. She had spent far too long and put in far too much effort to let them simply fall away. She was still very guarded around most people and still a bit emotionally closed off, distant. It was more like Booth had found a hidden door and over the years he had been making steady progress opening the door until one day, without her even realizing it had happened, he had thrown the door wide open, walked in, and made himself at home.

Pouring herself a large cup of coffee, Brennan made her way back to the bedroom and crawled back into bed next to the man that had stolen her heart. Having had enough soul searching, if you could call it that, for one morning, she once again got out of bed, this time to retrieve her laptop. When she returned to the bed, she couldn't help but be amazed that Booth was still asleep. Having previously been a sniper and army Ranger, generally Booth was a fairly light sleeper. She had seen him fall asleep from pure exhaustion in her office when they stayed late working on paperwork only to wake suddenly if she dropped a pen or even coughed too loudly. If he took a nap in the middle of the day on her couch, he would wake practically the moment she, or anyone else for that matter, walked into the office. Suddenly, he was able to sleep through her getting in and out of the bed, shifting his arm from her waist, and the smell of coffee she was sure was wafting all around the room. Taking another long sip of the warm brown liquid, Brennan powered up the computer and opened up the most recent draft of her novel. Closing her eyes and taking a deep cleansing breath, she began reading over the last few pages before blocking out everything around her and focusing on the lives of Kathy and Andy.

Booth woke slowly and very confusedly. He had had the weirdest dream. As he became aware of his surroundings, he could smell coffee and hear the steady breathing and rhythmic clacking of keys from the woman next to him. Before he opened his eyes, he simply took the time to enjoy the domestic bliss of it all. It was nice and comfortable to wake with her there, he had spent too many years waking alone and if he had it his way, he would never have to again. It felt right for her to be there simply working as he slept, almost unbidden Angela's words from the night before sprang to his mind – "an old married couple". If he thought about it, they really were. In no time, they had fallen into a comfortable routine with one another. On mornings they both got ready at the same time, they moved easily around each other without conscious thought. Nights they made dinner together, they worked together seamlessly. Then again, they had always worked well together – no, that's not true, not always, not at the very beginning, but they worked well together now.

Opening his eyes, Booth took in the sight before him – Brennan lounging in _his _bed, wearing _his_ shirt, completely absorbed in her writing – he could definitely get used to this. He noticed that her forehead creased as she hit a mental wall with the writing and her hands stopped their steady flow over the keyboard. Without removing her eyes from the screen, she reached for her coffee as she read over what she had written trying to find a new route, a way to fix it. As she moved to replace the cup on the nightstand, he reached out and took hold of the cup, removing it from her hand and bringing it to his lips.

"Booth, you're awake" she stated surprised that she hadn't noticed before now.

After taking a second long drag of the coffee he responded with a "Gee, it's no wonder you work with the FBI."

"Isn't it a little early for sarcasm? You haven't even had a full cup of coffee!"

"Speaking of which, is there any of this left?" he asked lifting the cup slightly.

"Of course" she replied as she started to get out of bed yet again.

"You stay put; you looked like you were on to something. I can get my own coffee. You use too much sugar anyway" he said handing her back her half empty cup with an exaggerated grimace.

When he returned, she was once again immersed in her 'fictional world' and barely acknowledged his presence. Unfazed, he made himself comfortable next to her and attempted to read over her shoulder. He had only gotten through a paragraph before a pointy elbow made contact with his toned stomach. "Ow, what was that for?" he cried indignantly.

"Who said you could read my manuscript?"

"Well I thought that since –"

"Have I ever let you read any of my manuscripts before they were published?" When he shook his head in the negative she continued, "Than what makes you think I would change my mind now?"

Booth opened and closed his mouth a couple of times as he cast around for some rebuttal. The truth was, he knew she wouldn't knowingly let him read it, but she had been so focused, he thought she wouldn't notice. Finally he remembered something that might just save him. "You let David read your manuscript when you were dating."

"Yes I did. I also changed the title even though he said it was fine because_ you_ didn't like it – if you remember."

"So what, I'm not allowed to read it because … my opinion means _too much_ to you?"

Rather than answer, she turned back to her computer and returned to writing. Booth had gotten his answer though, so he just sat back with a triumphant smile and sipped his cooling coffee.

Sometime later, Brennan had written and rewritten the chapter so many times that she was ready to throw the computer across the room. Sensing this, Booth decided to distract her with the thoughts that had been distracting _him_ all morning. "You know, you look good in my shirt."

"What?" Brennan asked startled by his intrusion into the bubble she had created around herself. When his words finally registered in her head, she looked confused for a moment before remembering that she hadn't taken the shirt off. Blushing so slightly that most wouldn't even notice she decided to explain it away with a "Thank you, I was cold this morning."

Booth just smiled. He loved seeing this side of Bones. She kept it hidden so well most of the time behind her shell. But even as close as they had been before, he was seldom permitted to see her flustered or without her protective wall. Now, here in the privacy of their bed – his bed – she was comfortable enough, secure enough to let him all the way in. "So I had a really weird dream last night" he informed her.

"Really?" she asked setting her computer aside. "What about?"

"Well, _you _were in it" he teased.

"And?"

"And we had a knife throwing act in a circus."

"That really was fun, aside from the black eye. You were so mad at me though."

"How do you know? I'm pretty sure it's not possible to share dreams."

"It wasn't a dream Booth, it was a memory. We went under cover a month or two ago to solve a case. After the performance, you were so mad at me for … I think it was because I made it too dangerous."

"I could have seriously hurt you Bones! Especially with the clown nose."

"I trust you Booth. Besides, you have excellent aim. I knew you wouldn't hit me."

*~BONES~*

**Sunday**

"Brennan."

At first all she could hear on the other end of the line was a very distinct laugh. "Sweetie, you do realize you just answered Booth's phone right?"

"Yes Ang, I am perfectly aware of what phone I answered. Why?" the scientist returned.

"It's just that … you know what, never mind Bren. What are you and your hunky FBI agent doing this afternoon?"

"Nothing that I know of, why?" Bren asked not even bothering to react to her best friend's description of Booth other than an eye roll. She was used to hearing things like that from Angela by now.

"Because I want to go shopping! And I need a shopping buddy" Angela said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Ang, if this is another ploy to get 'juicy details' out of me, it's not going to work" Brennan warned.

"Fine, but it will still be fun. We haven't gone shopping in _forever_."

"It's only been three weeks Ang" Bren replied with a breathy laugh at her friend's exaggeration.

"Like I said, _forever_! So are you going to come with me and keep me from buying out the whole store or aren't you?"

"Just a sec Ang" she said as she walked into the living room to talk to Booth. "Hey, Ang wants me to go shopping with her this afternoon. You didn't have anything planned did you?"

"No, go and have fun Bones. It's still only the first quarter. I'll be here for a while" was his easy response.

Turning her attention back to the phone, she walked away from Booth "I can be ready in half an hour."

"That's sooo sweet Bren. You had to check with your _boyfriend_ first" Angela cooed.

"Shut up, Ang! Why did you call me on his home phone though?"

"Because your cell's dead or turned off."

"No it's – ok, yes it is" Brennan stated pulling the device in question from her pocket. "I guess I better go put this on a charger" she said more to herself than Angela. "I'll see you in half an hour Ang. Are we meeting somewhere or are you picking me up?"

"I'll come get you. Besides, it'll give me a chance to see your little love nest" Angela teased before hanging up.

Half an hour later, precisely, there was an excited wrap on the door of Booth's apartment. Moments later, Brennan answered the door and Booth could hear her trying to hurry their friend out. Angela's voice drifted through to him. "Booth, you have a nice place. It's a lot 'homier' than I pictured."

"You pictured what my apartment looked like?" he asked with a hint of amusement.

"I am an _artist_. It's kind of what I do."

"Uhuh, and how exactly did you picture my apartment?"

"More 'bachelor pad' less 'Mr. Mom'" she said with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders.

"Mr. Mom? I don't know what that means" Brennan interjected.

"Of course you don't Bren. It's a movie – I'll explain later."

"What do you mean 'Mr. Mom'? It's not like I have Parker's toys strewn around" Booth objected.

"True," she answered slowly, "but everything is very kid friendly – worn couch, no sharp edges on anything, children's artwork but not many breakable things" she observed. "I expected more of a … a neo-modern look. You know, leather and metal and clean lines."

Booth and Brennan could only laugh at how ridiculous Angela could be some times. "So, now that you've analyzed Booth's apartment, are you ready to go? I thought you wanted to shop" Brennan spoke out to try and get back on track.

"Just a minute. I still need to look around a little closer" Angela complained.

Brennan rolled her eyes exasperatedly and Booth smiled reassuringly at her before turning his attention back to the game he had been watching. Deciding that the quickest way to get Angela going would be to control her explorations, Brennan offered a tour. "There's really not much to see. You saw the entry hall and living room. Then there's the kitchen, Parker's room, the bathroom, and Booth's room" she explained as she ushered the curly headed artist passed the rooms allowing her to briefly poke her head in each.

The urgency with which Bren was trying to get her out of the apartment piqued her interest, especially since Booth didn't seem to particularly mind. She knew the rush was not inspired by Bren's desire to get to the mall, because unlike herself, Bren didn't necessarily enjoy shopping. Regardless, Angela played along with Brennan's rush and only briefly looked into the rooms as they passed by. With her artist's eye for details, however, she was still able to catch several things to store for later contemplation. The entire place was tidy – not something she would expect of a man's place – but despite her earlier teasing, she could tell that Booth had been responsible for the decoration. She was also able to pick up several small signs that Bren was already making herself at home here. Her keys lay on the entrance table next to Booths, her favorite coffee mug had found a place on the kitchen counter, the jacket she had worn to work Friday was hanging from one of the kitchen chairs, her toiletries were not in the guest bathroom – implying that they resided in the en suite with Booth's – and the brief glimpse she had gotten of his room revealed some of her clothes in the closet, a shared bed, her computer resting on a bedside table, and their dirty clothes intermingled in the hamper. She hadn't realized how spot on her teasing jab at the bar had been until now, and she marveled at how comfortable both of them seemed with this new situation. Generally speaking, Bren was not the type to give up her space, yet she had for all intents and purposes moved in with Booth. Heck he was even letting her drive his precious car.

"Sooo?" Angela began as they walked around the mall loaded down with bags and picking at their pretzels.

"So … what?" Bren countered.

"So… how are things going with Booth?"

"Great, why?"

"Just curious. Normally you are a lot more forthcoming with information about the men you date."

"It's just that … we all work together and … it's, it's different, ok?" Bren said flustered. Really she wasn't exactly sure why she was less open about her relationship with Booth, other than that it was simply different. She wasn't embarrassed, it was just … she wasn't exactly sure how to mix her personal and professional lives like that. Yes her colleagues were her friends – her family – and Booth was a part of that family too. But to share intimate details about her and Booth with them didn't seem right somehow, and to share with Ang meant sharing with everyone.

"So, have you had sex yet? Is he good? I always thought he would be great in bed" Angela continued on as if she hadn't heard Bren's stumbled explanation.

"Angela!" Brennan half chided half yelled. She really should have been surprised, but she wasn't. Ang had made comments about Booth's physique ever since they had first met him and this whole abstinence thing she was going through had been doing funny things to her.

"Sorry Sweetie, but you know that I have to live vicariously through you. So have you?" Angela asked unfazed.

"No" Bren said quietly, almost embarrassed – not that it was anything to be embarrassed about. "No, we haven't had sex yet."

"What? Why?" Angela asked shocked. "You have been sharing a bed since –"

"How did you –"

"I saw the bed Sweetie. It's kind of obvious. But back to the point. You have been sharing a bed for what? Two weeks? And you have been dating at least that long. So why haven't you? You usually don't wait longer than a week to have sex with a guy. So why are you waiting with Booth?"

"Like I said, it's different with Booth. Every relationship I have ever had has been based primarily on sex. Not that that's a bad thing. But with Booth … I don't know Ang. I don't think I could stand it if it didn't work out, so we are taking our time. Does that make any sense?"

Angela grudgingly had to admit that it did make sense, especially for these two. She had always had the feeling that it Bren and Booth ever got together it would be forever, so maybe taking it slowly was the way to go.

*~BONES~*

**Monday**

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan, Director Cullen can see you now."

"Thank you Celia."

"Good morning Director Cullen" Booth greeted as he and his partner walked into the office.

"Booth, Brennan" Cullen greeted as he motioned for the chairs in front of his desk. He watched silently as they took their seats almost simultaneously. It was amusing, bordering on downright funny, how in sync this pair was. He had noticed that even before the recent events that had necessitated their almost constant companionship, they rarely did anything without the other. He had even noticed that they tended to do their paperwork together, even when their paperwork was completely unrelated. From everything that he had heard and observed himself, they were one of the strongest, if not the strongest, teams the Bureau had. When they had settled into the chairs, he continued with the matter at hand. "You've met with the doctor this morning?" he asked looking at Booth.

"Yes. Dr. King said that I was fit to return to duty. My memory is almost back to what it was before the surgery, and all of the damage to my memory is retroactive. He doesn't see any reason why it should affect my work. Physically I'm fine."

Cullen could see that Dr. Brennan wanted to contribute, probably by filling in all the boring scientific details, but she held her tongue after sharing a look with Booth. He never would have thought that Brennan could be controlled or reined in by anyone, especially after that second case – the first she worked out in the field. Back then she blatantly disregarded regulations and procedure to blindly follow her hunches and get her evidence. Now, at least, Booth was able to keep her from making the type of mistakes she had then.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. You are back to work then. That'll be all," he dismissed. The partners rose from their seats and walked to the door, Booth's hand in its customary place at her back. "And please don't go getting shot or anything anytime soon" Cullen called after them as they reached the door.

"Yes sir" Booth answered with a small smile on his face.

"Can I have my keys back now?" Booth asked as they made their way to the SUV an hour later.

"Why?" Brennan asked stubbornly.

"Because, Bones, it is an _FBI _issued vehicle and _I_ am the FBI agent."

"But I'm your partner, and a good driver."

"Yes you are, but _you_ do _not_ work for the FBI – as you have readily pointed out several times in the past" he rebutted.

"You know, sometimes I think I liked you better when you couldn't remember" she shot back lightly, taking hold of his hand to lessen the sting.

Booth glared at her momentarily before giving in and smiling. When they reached the car, he led her around to the passenger side and held out his hand. When she just looked at him defiantly he decided to change tactics. Glancing around to make sure they were alone in the parking lot, he slowly leaned into her. Right before their lips touched, he snatched the keys from her hand and pecked her lips lightly.

"That's cheating!" Brennan cried as he opened her door for her.

Giving her his best charm smile, he responded with "Yes, well life's not fair. Now get in please."

*~BONES~*

**Tuesday**

"You needed to see me Booth?"

"Yes sir. I should have mentioned it yesterday, but it slipped my mind. Um, I'm going to need to leave early Friday."

"How early Booth? You just got back to active duty."

"I know that Director Cullen, but I'm taking my son on a trip this weekend."

"This weekend? It couldn't have been a couple of weeks from now?"

"No, sir it couldn't. We're going for a birthday" Booth responded deciding to keep whose birthday to himself for now – he really didn't need any trouble about him and Bones' relationship just yet.

"You never did tell me how early you have to leave" Cullen informed the agent after a couple of minutes of silence.

"Right, about 3:30."

"Fine, you can have the time" Cullen granted with a single nod. "Have fun with Dr. Brennan and her family" he tacked on as Booth walked through the door of his office. Booth practically stopped in his tracks at that. Sometimes it shocked him exactly how much Cullen knew without him saying a word.

"Let's go Bones, we got a case" Booth announced loudly from the foot of the stairs to the platform.

"Booth, I cannot just leave in the middle of an examination. You should know that by now."

"Vincent can handle this guy, we've got to get to the scene. You wouldn't want anyone to contaminate your evidence" he countered coming up behind her and escorting her away from the exam table. "And you know that you want to work on a case with me" he said suggestively waggling his eyebrows.

"You are absolutely impossible" she laughed as she finally stopped resisting and began walking willingly towards her office with his hand at the small of her back. "So what do we know?"

"Oh, come on Bones, I didn't mean it like that!" Booth called as she slammed the passenger side door, drawling looks from nearby metro cops.

"Don't give me that crap Booth. You didn't have to say anything to me at all. Or you could have come up with a better answer for her than _that_" she hissed back as he walked around the car to meet her.

"Look, can we just drop it for now?"

"Yes, I need to focus on the remains anyway" she said before walking off in a huff.

"Trouble in paradise?" a cop that had worked several scenes with them asked but was quickly shut up by a dark look from Booth as he walked across the clearing to where his partner was kneeling by the remains of a young man.

*~BONES~*

**Wednesday**

"So isn't this great? It's been over a week since we had a session with both of you. So is there anything you want to talk about?" When the partners continued to stare blankly at him he decided to ask slightly more specific questions. "Have any problems arisen since you're dating now?" No response. "Any difficulties getting back to work after everything that's happened?" Booth simply looked at his phone, whether checking for messages or the time, Sweets wasn't sure. "Oh come on guys! You have to have _something_ you want to talk about. There is _always_ something going on between you two. … Any fights or disagreements lately?" Although neither gave any obvious signs that he had hit on something, he had spent enough time observing them that he was able to pick up the subtle indications that he had.

With a new objective for the session in mind, he sat back and just watched the two in silence for a while. _Usually_ people would grow tired of the silence and decide to talk just to fill the void. But these two weren't normal. Instead of becoming uncomfortable, they both simply sat back in their chairs, mirroring Sweets' stance, and waited him out.

After five minutes of complete silence, he tried again. "Dr. Brennan, what was the fight about?"

"It wasn't a _fight_" she responded not thinking about her choice of words.

"Ok, so it wasn't a fight" the young man stipulated. "Then what was it?"

"It was nothing, ok Sweets" Booth answered defensively.

"What was the _nothing_ about?" Sweets persisted.

"He's just going to keep asking us isn't he?" Brennan asked Booth.

"It looks like it. Should we tell him now or make him wait a little longer?" Booth asked back.

"You guys do realize that I can hear everything you say, right? Talking about me like I'm not in the room is a defense mechanism the two of you use to keep people from prying into your lives. The only problem with that is that it only works for so long and until the people you are excluding recognize it for what it is. I'm not going to get distracted from the point."

"You just did, Sweets. So technically I think we won that round, didn't we Bones?" Booth prodded with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"I think that it definitely counts as a win" she answered with a matching gleam in hers.

"What was the … _disagreement_ about?"

"My ex" was Booth's simple answer.

Sweets sighed internally. They were not going to make this easy for him. He found himself almost wishing this was like their last _regularly scheduled_ session, with Brennan blurting out random life changing information in her detached way. Steeling himself for a painfully long drawing out process, Sweets took a fortifying breath. "Which ex?"

"_Rebecca_" Brennan answered with a little more contempt in her voice than he had heard her use with that woman's name before.

"Ok … what about Rebecca?"

Brennan simply huffed, so Booth decided to take this one. "When I talked to her the other night about our trip, she said she wasn't sure she liked the idea of Parker becoming too attached to Bones' family."

"Because she's worried they'll be a bad influence on him" Brennan spat. "Like I would put him in a position that would be _bad_ for him! Let alone _Booth_!"

Sweets had to admit that he didn't expect this. Waiting a moment to make sure they were done sharing, Sweets decided to leave the issue of Rebecca's opinion aside for the moment – the last thing he needed was for Dr. Brennan to attack him. "I can understand why that would upset you, but why did that cause problems between the two of you?"

The room was once again cast into silence. Finally Brennan stated "There aren't any problems between us."

"Dr. Brennan, the two of you had a fight – ok, a disagreement over that conversation, so obviously it caused some kind of problem."

"We worked it out already. On our _own_. So there is no need for us to talk about it with you" Booth said definitively. e two in. There didn't seem to be any residual tension between them, and if possible, they were sittin

Sweets sat back a moment just taking th g even closer to each other than in previous sessions. Suddenly realization struck him and he started to smile.

"Why are you smiling? Booth, why is he smiling?" Brennan asked, clearly thinking she had missed something. Booth just shook his head.

"It was your first fight as a couple" Sweets stated.

"And that's _funny_ to you?" Booth asked incredulously.

"No, not at all it's just –" but he cut himself off.

"Just _what_ Sweets?" Booth asked.

"Nothing, just nothing."

"That's not what you were going to say" Brennan accused.

"Fine" Sweets gave in since it looked like he was in danger of bodily harm either way. "I was going to say that it's just … _cute_, you know, like a regular couple."

*~BONES~*

**Thursday**

"Bones, I'm going to talk to Daniel Adams' business partner again. You want to come?"

"Yeah just give me a minute to grab the most recent reports. I'll fill you in on the way. Are we going to him, or is he coming to us?" she asked as she striped of her latex gloves and grabbed some folders from a nearby table.

"He's coming to us this time. He knows more than he's telling and it'll be easier to get him off balance in an interrogation room."

"What makes you say that? Your gut again?" she asked amused.

"So what if it is? It's almost always right" he countered.

Sitting across from Mark Hampton, Booth was more and more convinced that he was involved in Daniel Adams' death. "What was the fight about Mr. Hampton? Was he going to sell the business out from under you?" he questioned.

Brennan watched the interchange quietly. At the moment she had nothing to contribute to the interview, but she was waiting on a call from Hodgins. When she had left with Booth, Hodgins had been running a test that would narrow down the murder weapon significantly. And she had learned that having the right piece of information at the right time, even if the information was incomplete, could make a great difference in a murder's story. When her phone vibrated in her pocket, she stood and walked to the corner of the room so that Hampton couldn't overhear. "Brennan" she answered quietly. "Yeah, Hodgins, did you finish it? … And? … Are you sure? … Ok, thanks Hodgins, bye."

Striding back over to the table she resumed her seat casually and waited a moment longer before leaning forward in her seat. "Tell me, Hampton, how exactly does one go about cleaning blood from a million dollar antique sculpture without damaging the value?" she asked innocently.

"A … Wha – what are you talking about?" he stammered.

"That call I just took," she said motioning to the corner she had been standing in, "was from my lab" she informed him. "A colleague of mine just confirmed that the murder weapon used to kill Daniel Adams was a very expensive antique sculpture, like the one I saw in your office the other day."

Hampton went pale and his eyes went wide. He was caught, he just knew it. "If I were to confess, what kind of deal could I get?" he asked playing his last hand.

"That's up to the DA" Booth informed him.

"Then I want to talk to the DA before I say anything else."

"Fine, Mark Hampton, you are under arrest for the murder of Daniel Adams. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say …"

"I'll meet you at home, alright? I still have some paperwork to put together and I want to do it while it's still fresh."

"Sure, Bones, I've got some of my own to finish. I'll see you at home" Booth agreed with a quick kiss.

He was sitting at his desk immersed in his own paperwork a short time later when there was a knock on the door. "Can I come in Seeley?"

"Sure Cam, what's up?" Cam took a seat across form Booth but didn't say anything, she couldn't even really look him in the eye. "Come on, Camile, you can talk to me. What's wrong?"

"Are you sure about this?" she asked suddenly.

"Sure about what? Talking to you? Of course I am" he told her.

"No, Seeley, about this thing with Brennan, are you sure?"

"Where is this coming from Cam?" he asked hesitantly, just bordering on defensive.

"It's just that … you've been under a lot of _stress_ lately and I know that she was there for you while you were still lost trying to remember … and are you _sure_?" she asked again. "It's not just some kind of post traumatic thing is it?" she asked, and he could almost hear a hint of hope in her voice. "I mean … just over two _weeks_ ago she was asking you to father her child and have _nothing_ to do with it, and now … well, now it's like you skipped the whole early dating step and jumped straight to _living together_ and taking _family_ vacations."

Booth was stunned for a minute, still trying to figure out where Cam was coming from. Was she just worried about him, or both him and Brennan? Was this about work? Was she jealous? Shaking his head, he decided it didn't really matter why she was questioning him, the answer was the same regardless. "Yes Cam I _am_ sure about this. I love her and it's _not_ just a reaction to the amnesia or tumor or anything else. I've been in love with her for a long time now, and was just too … scared of scaring her off to do anything about it. It's the real thing Camille" he said solemnly.

She studied his face intently for a few minutes, and apparently seeing what she was looking for there, she decided to take her leave. "That's good Seeley. I hope it works out. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Probably. Parker and I are picking Bones up from the lab." Then she was gone and he still didn't know why she had asked.

*~BONES~*

**Friday**

Booth's attention was drawn by the loud "Dad!" coming from his son across the room. "Hey, Bub, you ready to go? We need to go pick Bones up from the lab and get going."

"We have to leave already? It's still early" the smaller Booth announced.

"Yeah it is, but we have a long drive ahead of us. Go get your stuff so we can go."

"Dad," Parker called from the back seat five minutes later, "can I hang out with Max when we get to the lab? He said that he knew this really cool experiment we could do."

"Max isn't there today Bub, but you'll see him tomorrow. He's going to Kings Island with us" Booth informed him.

"Really? Why is he coming?" the inquisitive boy asked.

"Max is Dr. Bones' father, remember? And we are going with Bones' family."

"Oh." Then all was quiet for all of about three minutes. "Where are we eating dinner?"

"You can't be hungry already" Booth said casting a glance at his son in the rearview mirror.

"No, but I will be. Can we have pizza?"

"Maybe, we'll see. How was your day?" Booth deferred. The rest of the ride was filled with Parker's animated tales of his day and Booth's occasional word or two of acknowledgement, when he could get them in. As he pulled into his normal parking spot a funny thought occurred to him. This weekend would be a really good test of Bones' recent resolve to have a kid. She would be spending six hours in a car with an energetic eight year old tonight, followed by an entire day with three youngsters at an amusement park tomorrow, and another six hour trip home with his son.

"Dr. Bones! We have to go! Come on, come on, come on!" Parker called running into the forensic lab and drawing the attention of several people. Fortunately, even in his excitement, he remembered about the security of the forensic platform itself and stopped at the bottom of the steps.

"I'm coming Parker, just give me a minute. Where's your dad?" she asked as she walked up to him to slide her ID and allow him onto the platform.

"Back here Bones" Booth called as he walked through the glass doors.

"Nice of you to join us" she teased, holding her hand out to his son. "I just have to grab my bag from my offi –"

But she was cut off by Angela's entrance. "Parker, my man! How are you?" she asked nodding to Booth as a hello.

"Hi Angela. I had an ok day, but tomorrow is going to be better!" he announced walking off with the artist.

"Hey, Bones. You ready for this?" Booth asked as they entered her office.

"Why wouldn't I be? It's just a weekend spent with my dad and Russ" she answered sarcastically.

"And Amy and the girls and Parker and me" Booth added.

"Yes, and Parker and you" she smiled leaning in to kiss him.

Cam cleared her throat from the door. "So, Dr. Brennan, I assume you are getting ready to leave?"

"Yes, we should get going. It's a long drive" she responded slightly embarrassed to be caught kissing Booth by her boss and his former lover. Yes, she thought, some aspects about their relationship were going to take a while to iron out. At the moment, things like this were still just a little awkward. "If you need me, I'm taking my phone and laptop with me."

"Go and have fun, don't worry about work for once" Cam admonished walking away from the couple.

"Dr. Bones? How much longer before we get there?" Parker asked for the tenth time since they had left the Jeffersonian.

"Another four hours, Parker" she responded calmly. "Do you want to play a game on my computer?"

"Sure. What do you have?" Parker asked enthusiastically.

"Not much, unfortunately. Do you like solitaire?" she asked the boy as she dug her lap top out of its case.

"Yep, but I like spider solitaire better."

As Bones passed her computer back to his son, Booth couldn't help but smile. She was doing a lot better than he had thought she would. He knew that she liked Parker and vice versa, but a road trip with a kid could be trying, even for the kid's parents, let alone someone with limited experience with kids. Interlacing their fingers, he brought her hand to his lips.

"What was that for?" she asked surprised by the act of affection.

"Nothing," he responded, "I'm just glad you and Parker are getting along."

"We always get along, Booth" she stated as the confusion clearly made its way to her face. "Why wouldn't we now?"

Glancing at her he had to consciously keep himself from laughing at the genuine confusion on his girlfriend's face. "Because, Bones, he's an energetic kid trapped in a car for six hours. In my experience, traveling with kids for any length of time can wear on the nerves."

A small "Oh" was the only answer he received.

*~BONES~*

Author's Note: First, ten points to whoever catches my unintentional One Tree Hill paraphrase, LOL. Second, I tried a bit of a new style to get to the trip quicker. I didn't want to skip the entire week, because I think that there were a lot of things that could have been covered in that time and I wanted to include interactions with other main characters. As for their 'fight' – I hope that it turned out ok. I thought they needed a fight for two reasons, 1) they really aren't _perfect_ and 2) I love when they have their little spats on the show. It took me forever to think of something for them to argue about.

Important Question! Does _anyone_ know the name of Brennan's other niece? I only remember Haley and I don't want to spend an entire story calling her the sister, niece, etc. if not, that's ok, I'll make something up.

Lastly … as you have probably figured out, the next story will be the family trip to Kings Island. So, this is your last chance to share any stories or favorite rides you would like to see included. Thanks ahead of time.


	11. A Review in Pieces

**Pieces of a Family Trip**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

* * *

**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****, ****Picking up the Pieces****, **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together****, ****Bits and Pieces****, **

**Pieces of My Heart****, ****All the Little Pieces****,**

**The Date****, ****Pieces of a Case****, ****and ****Pieces of a Week**

* * *

**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.**

* * *

Since it has been so long since I last posted this series, I'm starting out this one with a recap of the first nine stories in the series. If you have read them recently, or don't think you need a refreasher course, feel free to skip ahead to the new part (chapter 2)

* * *

*~BONES~*

**Previously in the "Pieces" series** …

* * *

… As she hit the delete button undoing the past five hours worth of writing, Dr. Temperance Brennan heard a noise coming from the bed of Seeley Booth. When she recognized distinguishable words fall from his lips she could barely control the overwhelming urge to yell out or cry or something. Instead, she walked as calmly as she could the four steps to his side and examined him. Needing to assure him, as much as herself, that he was ok she resorted to facts. "The surgery was successful. You had a bad reaction to the anesthesia. You have been in a coma for four days."

"Who are you?" he asked and her heart broke. He didn't remember her? How could he not remember her after everything they had been through together; with everything they meant to one another.

"You – you don't remember me?" she asked trying desperately to keep her voice from breaking. At the shake of his head, she put on the bravest face she could muster and even managed a small smile to try and reassure him. "That's ok. Don't worry about that right now. It is not uncommon to experience amnesia after brain surgery."

*~BONES~*

A short time later the doctor stepped out of the room closing the door behind him. "Dr. King, aside from the amnesia, how is he doing?"

Dr. King took a moment to study the woman in front of him for a moment before answering. She was definitely an amazing woman. She had spent the past four and a half days in the hospital and he knew from the nursing staff that she had hardly slept or eaten in that time, and yet she was still stunning. He thought her eyes looked a little puffy and red around the edges, but those were the only outward signs of her distress. Her voice, while soft, was steady as steel and she had her shoulders squared ready to accept and deal with the worst case scenario. "At the moment I can't tell you much. I do not believe that it will be permanent, but it is hard to say at this point. We will know more later in the week."

Sitting in his room later, an idea occurred to the scientist. "Booth, how old is your son?"

"Parker? He is turning … 3. Why?" Booth asked trying to figure out where she was going with this.

"Well, that settles it. You are missing the last 5 years."

"How do you know?"

"Because Parker is now 8 going on 9" was the definitive answer.

*~BONES~*

Poking her head in the room after Parker's departure and seeing the sad look on Booth's face, Brennan had an idea. "Hey Booth, I'm going to get us some pudding. Vanilla right? I'll be right back."

"Thanks Bones" he called after her.

"You're welcome" she said. She was half way down the hall before what he had called her registered. Turning on her heal and walking quickly back to the room she asked "What did you just call me?"

Shocked by her reaction Booth hesitantly answered, "Bones?"

"Did Parker tell you about that?" she demanded trying desperately not to get her hopes up only to have them crash down again.

"No. It just came out. I honestly don't know where it came from."

He watched as the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, or at least that he remembered, broke out across her face. Light seemed to shine from her eyes as she made her way to him and engulfed him in a hug. "Don't fight it, don't question it, just let it come back to you. You are going to be fine!" she declared.

"How do you know?"

"Because you called me Bones" she answered like it was the most blatantly obvious fact on the earth.

*~BONES~*

A short while later Booth requested that she tell him some more stories.

"Where should I start?" Bones asked. Four years was a lot of time to catch up on and so many things had happened in that time for the two of them. But resorting to logic and reason, she decided to start at the beginning of their partnership. For several hours they just sat in his room while she told him about the life he couldn't remember and she could never forget. It felt odd to talk about these things that he was so much a part of while he was unable to contribute anything.

He didn't mention the flashes he recalled, or possibly only constructed, as he heard the stories. He just absorbed them and relished in the small clips or still images that he was able to retrieve. Occasionally he would hear bits of conversations about victims and motives and weapons and bone structure and sports injuries. Usually these came with disjointed pictures of faces that he assumed went with the voice, but most of the time he couldn't place a name to the face. Eventually he decided that for the sake of his sanity, he needed to coordinate names with faces and he got an idea.

*~BONES~*

Bones was awoken when the doctor came in to examine Booth about an hour and a half after Booth had drifted off. She waited quietly as he assessed the printouts monitoring Booth's brain waves. When he had finished, she got up and followed him from the room so as not to bother the sleeping agent. "How does it look doctor?" she asked closing the door.

"So far everything seems to be on track. He's had some elevated brain waves for the past few hours. The kind of activity that the machines recorded are usually associated with memories and remembering" he informed her having come to realize that she wanted the scientific explanations behind his predictions and diagnosis.

"He didn't mention anything about remembering anything though."

"That is not uncommon for amnesia patients. They often don't recall what we would consider full memories. They tend to experience the memories in bits and pieces with large gaps in between. Sometimes the patient is not sure what is real or what their mind has made up to fill the gaps. From what I have heard about agent Booth from you and your friends, I would assume that he is preferring to err on the side of caution and not tell you about the things he remembers in case they are not true. It's as much to protect you from disappointment as himself."

"That does sound like something he would do. He is always trying to protect everybody" Brennan acknowledged nodding her head a couple of times. "How do I get him to tell me?" she asked already trying to form a plan of action in her mind.

*~BONES~*

Later that night Booth awoke to find Bones curled awkwardly in the same uncomfortable chair she had occupied for the past five days. He took a moment to reflect on the fact that she had not left his side any longer than absolutely necessary since this whole thing began. It was hard to imagine that kind of connection and loyalty, but he was grateful for it. She shifted trying in vain to get comfortable. He shifted to the farthest part of the bed before softly calling out to her. She stirred but didn't wake so he tried again. This time she opened her eyes a fraction before asking agitatedly "What Booth?"

"You looked uncomfortable in the chair. Why don't you come lay up here with me?" he offered.

"Booth I can't do that. The bed is hardly big enough for you, let alone the both of us" she protested practically, though the thought of a bed, even a shared one, was very appealing.

"Aw, come on Bones. I made room. And I won't sleep if you insist on staying in that chair" he protested with his special smile.

She was quiet for a while just looking at him, making a list of pros and cons in her head. Finally she made up her mind and rose from the chair. In a few short steps she slipped into the bed and under the sheets he was holding up. He dropped the sheets over her and laid his arm over her hip pulling her closer to a more comfortable position for both of them. Just before he drifted back to sleep he heard her whisper her thanks.

*~BONES~*

Booth awoke with the morning sun and after some time, he took stock of his surroundings and was mildly surprised to find the woman who occupied his thoughts also occupied his arms. Somehow it felt anything but wrong or unnatural to wake like this. In fact, as far as he knew, which granted still had a lot of holes, he had never been this content in his life. Realization came quickly, if unexpectedly, that he was in love with this woman who had been described as his partner and friend. He could feel it in his gut and could not for the life of him figure out why he had never acted on the feelings he was experiencing.

As he felt her stir and begin to wake, he made a decision. When he was out of the hospital and had regained at least most of his memory, he was going to sit her down and present two arguments for why they should be together. The first would appeal to the ultra rational and logical side that she prided herself on; the second to the emotional side she attempted to hide from the world.

The first conscious thought that passed through Brennan's mind was that she was more comfortable and better rested than she had been in days. The second was that she was laying in Booth's hospital bed wrapped securely in his arms. A smile came unbidden to her lips and she refused to dwell too long on why that was. Instead she turned in his embrace and searched out his warm chocolate brown eyes. When she found them not only open but watching her intently she whispered an almost shy, "Morning Booth."

*~BONES~*

The rest of the day passed by quickly with the squints visiting for about an hour and Brennan filling Booth in on more of their history. When night came Booth once again offered to share the bed with Bones when she started nodding off in the chair. Looking at his almost pleading face and remembering how well she had slept after moving to the bed the previous night she consented.

The next morning the two sat in bed talking about plans for the rest of the day until a nurse came into the room with Booth's discharge papers. Once they were signed, Bones handed him the bag she had packed the previous day and sent him into the bathroom to clean up some and change. Half an hour later they were situated in his SUV driving to his apartment.

When they arrived at the apartment building, Brennan retrieved both her and Booth's bags from the trunk and lead the way to his apartment. Reaching the door, she fished out her keys and quickly found the right one to work the lock. By the time Booth had taken off his coat, she had already made herself at home, having removed her jacket and shoes and put the bags down in his room for the time being. He marveled that he could possibly have forgotten her when she was so at home in his space and looked so right there.

Booth only had one spare room, Parker's, and the bed there was not really large enough for her to sleep on and he refused to allow her to sleep on the couch, so for the third night in a row the two partners shared a bed. Despite the obvious excess of room available in the king size bed over the hospital bed, the two slept right next to each other as they had the previous two nights. This night, however, their routine was changed when they shared a brief, tired kiss before drifting off to sleep.

*~BONES~*

When Booth awoke the next morning, he was momentarily disappointed to find the bed empty. The disappointment was short lived however, when the smell of coffee and bacon reached his nose. Now smiling, he got out of bed and walked out to the kitchen to find Bones standing at the stove,_ his_ stove, making bacon and eggs. Deciding to take a big chance, Booth stealthily made his way across the room and wrapped his arms around her waist.

At first Brennan stiffened, but as she realized who it was and remembered the kiss from the night before, she relaxed into his body and smiled back at him over her shoulder. "Good morning Booth. How are you feeling?"

"Right about now I feel great" he joked momentarily tightening his grip on her.

She laughed before pushing him away and instructing him to get them some plates. He reluctantly agreed and within five minutes the two were sitting at the table with breakfast and coffee.

Around 10:30 she pulled the SUV into Booth's regular spot outside the Jeffersonian and led the way to the Medico-Legal lab being careful to discretely keep an eye on her partner. As he walked through the automatic door for the lab, his mind was flooded with a swarm of memories spanning years and all jumbled together. He almost took a physical step back from the onslaught. Noticing this, Bones laid a gentle hand on his arm and led him quickly to her office before setting him down on her couch and closing the door. She silently sat next to him and waited for him to sort out what was going on in her mind.

Almost an hour later the partners were heading out of the building and to the diner for lunch. Booth had talked with Angela, Hodgins and Cam while Bones had examined whatever bone anomaly Clark had found and helped him explain the probable origins of them.

For the most part, the two ate silently. Occasionally she would snag a fry from his plate or he would sneak a crouton from her salad. They didn't need to talk. They were both content to dwell in their own thoughts secure in mere fact that the other was there. The familiarity of the silence was comforting to both after the events of the past week and they reveled in it. Eventually though, the food finished and the check came. The argument over who would pay was the first time in almost twenty minutes that either of them had spoken. It too was comfortable in its familiarity though, so neither minded dragging it out longer than absolutely necessary. It was moments like these that assured the two that everything was not lost or broken beyond repair. There was still a way to put the pieces back together and everything would be ok.

*~BONES~*

'Hiya Sweets. What's up?" Booth asked as he threw the door to the office open.

Sweets jumped a little at the entrance, but recovered well and motioned for the partners to take their usual seats as he moved around to his leather chair. "How are you feeling today Booth?"

"Just dandy thanks" was the smart reply.

"Booth, behave. He just wants to help" Brennan hissed from her place next to him.

Sweets watched on with amusement and awe as Booth turned to Brennan and the two held a silent conversation. Looking at them in this moment, one would never be able to tell that less than a week before, he had woken up and not had any idea who she was. It only proved to the young psychologist that the bond these two had was stronger than any he had ever seen. Even when common sense would suggest that the two should be uncomfortable or reserved with each other, something in their subconscious told them to trust and rely on the other. Finally Brennan seemed to win the silent debate and they once again returned their attention to the doctor before them.

"So, Bones says you think you know how to help me."

Sometime later Booth resurfaced from his thoughts just in time to hear Sweets and Bones making plans for the next session. "Don't I get a say?" he asked.

"No. Until the doctor clears you, you have very little say in anything because I will be driving you around" she told him matter of factly.

Resigning himself to that fact, Booth simply rolled his eyes and sat back again. Sometimes it felt like they were married, not just partners.

*~BONES~*

Back in his office Brennan heard a quiet "How on earth could I have ever forgotten _you_?"

She was taken aback. That was not what she had been expecting. Before she could formulate an answer though, he had crossed the small space between them and dropped a quick, gentle kiss to her lips. It happened so fast that she almost thought she had imagined it. Pulling back a little he said, "Come on Bones, let's go home." Placing a hand at the small of her back he led her through the building, neither commenting on the kiss or the reference to 'home'. Internally however, that's all either thought about.

They returned 'home' fifteen minutes after they had left the Hoover building and fell into a routine that had been set in the short time they had stayed together since he was released from the hospital. He went to relax in the living room, as per her orders, while she went to the kitchen to find something to eat. The domesticated routine did not go unnoticed by either partner, but like the kiss earlier neither commented on it.

Deciding to simply order in Brennan asked Booth where he would like to order from. There was no need to ask what he wanted, if anything they were creatures of habit. On the paper menu notes had been written in the margins noting the dishes that Booth, Parker, and Brennan liked. She noted that all of the menus had similar makings. Seeing her name in the midst of his and his son's caused the same warm feeling she had felt at the mention of 'home' to flow through her. Laughing at her insanity, she picked up the phone and quickly placed their order before returning to the couch.

"I think we should probably talk about it Bones." Booth said suddenly.

"It is ok if you regret it" she quickly interrupted. "I know that you are overwhelmed and confused right now and I don't blame you. I am sure that it is natural to …" she trailed off looking at her lap, hoping that he wasn't going to say it was all a mistake, but afraid he was.

"Oh Bones" he whispered pulling her into a strong embrace. "Of course I don't regret it and it has absolutely nothing to do with me being confused."

Bones smiled into his neck feeling twenty pounds lighter. She hadn't even realized that her heart had literally been weighed down with her uncertainty and fear. It wasn't a declaration of eternal love, it wasn't a promise that everything would be perfect, but for now it was enough. "Good" was the only thing she could think to say.

*~BONES~*

Waking up the next morning, Brennan couldn't stop her mind from working. Even now she wasn't entirely sure what it was that had prompted him to kiss her. She was still not entirely sure that he would not decide to take it back once he regained all of his memories. Maybe at the moment he didn't remember about the line and why _he_ felt it was so important. Maybe he didn't remember all of the differences and difficulties between them.

Those thoughts firmly in mind she made a decision. When he woke up, they would have a serious talk about the kiss and what it meant. When they had tried that last night they hadn't gotten any farther than him saying he didn't regret it. Still, not regretting something and wanting to continue something were not necessarily the same thing. Before she got too carried away in the things she was feeling, she had to tell him about everything. She had make sure that he knew all about the line and the differences. He had to know what he was getting into. If this was going to work, he had to know everything about both of them and their lives. Bones shivered involuntarily before pulling away from Booth's warm body to make some coffee. She was sure they would both need it this morning. Besides, she needed to get some distance from him so she could organize her thoughts. As much as she didn't want to, she would have to tell him every reason they should not be together and every reason that they weren't already and every reason that they wouldn't work. Then she would have to sit back and hope that he recognized what she was doing and that she wanted this more than anything.

"We need to talk and I need you to listen to me, not just argue. This is important" was the first thing he heard that morning as he poured his coffee.

"Ok" Booth replied hesitantly, "What do we need to talk about?"

"Us" was the simple answer. Booth blanched a little at the detached tone she used and the suddenness of the conversation. So far they had shared only one kiss and she already wanted to have _the conversation_. Then again, this was Bones and he was sure that she had never done anything in the normal way in her life.

"What about us Bones?" he asked cautiously.

Finally she looked up and Booth could see the myriad of emotions swirling in their blue depths. So despite the early hour and his reluctance, Booth decided that he would take this conversation as seriously as she seemed to want to make it.

"There are some … some things that you need to know before we start anything. I don't know what all you remember right now, but there are some things you _have to_ know before you decide if you want to have a relationship with me or just leave it as it is." Brennan's blue eyes bored into his brown ones trying to convey the truth she knew was inherent in that simple declaration.

"Ok, why don't you tell me then?"

Brennan took a deep breath and looked needlessly down at the pad of paper. She had memorized the list at least an hour ago, but it gave her something to focus on other than him. She figured she'd start with the simplest point first. "To start with, you told me that there is a line that some people can't cross. A line that coworkers shouldn't cross. I don't really know all of your reasonings, but you were very adamant about the -" she stopped abruptly when she noticed him trying to hide a smile behind his coffee cup. "Is this funny to you?" she demanded.

"No Bones, I promise you it's not funny. I was just thinking that I have regretted saying anything about that damn line since it came out of my mouth. That was just a reaction I had to what happened to Cam. I thought that it would have been easier to deal with her being hurt if we had never dated. I was afraid that if something happened to you I wouldn't be able to handle it." After a beat of two of silence he continued, "So … we work together."

"Yes we work together. Do you really think we would be able to keep our personal and professional lives separate? Because we would have to, to a certain extent. And what if us having a romantic relationship meant we couldn't be partners Booth? What we do, solving murders, it's important. And you once told me that if you take one of us, any of us away, …" she trailed off not wanting to get sidetracked with memories of the Gravedigger.

"You and Hodgins are in that hole forever," Booth whispered. The memories were still painful for him and he tried not to think about any of the times Bones' life had been in danger because of her, _their_, job.

Brennan's head shot up as he finished her thought. Apparently more of his memory was back than she knew. If he remembered that conversation, she dreaded to know what else had surfaced. In a way she had hoped that some of the horrible things they had been through never had to be remembered. She was curious as to what else he remembered, but now was not the time. "Exactly. We are the center Booth, 'and the center must hold'. Is it really worth it to risk that for a romantic relationship?" she asked herself as much as Booth. She continued on, however not giving him time to respond. "And if we were to start dating, what would happen in the field the next time someone has a gun? It would be too dangerous for either of us to be distracted by our concern for each other in the field. If we lose focus, one of us could die."

This time he took a moment to gather his thoughts and prepare a rational argument to plead his case. He only had one chance of convincing her, and he had to make it count. "Bones, you can't honestly tell me that you don't have feelings for me and I can't say I don't care about you. I have for a long time now. And we have been in too many situations where one or both of us could have been hurt or killed." Here he paused gauging her reaction. Seeing that she was at the very least accepting the logic behind what he had already said, he continued. "If the feelings I have for you were going to compromise us in the field, they would have already. And I think that the way we feel about each other makes us a better, stronger, more dedicated team. All of us, even the squints. We're a family Bones and we look out for each other. If we didn't love each other the way we do, we would have given up on finding you and Hodgins, or not found you when Kenton took you. Or you all wouldn't have found me on the ship. We are better because we care about each other."

Bones was shocked. She had never really thought about it like that, but he made a good point. The feelings they all had for each member of the team is what kept them all together and made them so good. If it wasn't for that connection, she, Hodgins, and Booth would probably be dead, Angela would have left a long time ago, and Zach, well Zach probably wouldn't have gotten the chances he did. Wiping a tear that had formed in the corner of her eye thinking about what might have been, Bones sighed. "Fine" she conceded, "but what if we break up? What happens to us and the team then?" she countered.

"There's an easy solution to that problem" he answered. At her curious gaze he continued, "We just never break up."

"Booth, it is impossible to say that nothing will ever happen to us that will break us apart. It is completely illogical to expect to live happily ever after."

"Who said anything about 'happily'?" he inserted, but she continued on as if she hadn't heard.

"But I have never had a really committed relationship. I don't know if I can" she continued secretly overjoyed that he seemed to remember enough about the two of them to effectively overrule all of the problems she could come up with.

"So you have commitment issues? We have been together for four years now and you haven't felt the need to run yet. And I haven't left yet. I'm not going to. You can't get rid of me."

For a long moment, they simply stared at each other from across the table in utter silence. She was waiting for any flicker of doubt to cross his face or another reason this couldn't work to occur to her. He was waiting for her to see the truth behind what he had just said. He would never leave her as long as he had any say in it. It was still too early to say 'I love you' but he hoped that he had managed to convince her to give them a chance.

Finally a brilliant smile broke out across her face and he was reminded of the picture in her parent's file. She looked unbelievably happy, and this time he was the reason. The next thing he knew, she was next to him with her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips not quite touching his. "You can't get rid of me either" she whispered just before she brought her lips to his for a _real_ kiss.

*~BONES~*

"Listen, the reason I called was to tell you that Haley decided she doesn't want a party this year."

"She doesn't want a party?" Brennan asked a little disappointed.

"No, she wants to go to this theme park instead. Amy, the girls, and I would love it if you came though. You could even bring Booth and his son. Dad already said he'd come. I figured we could make it like a family thing. What do you say?"

"I would like to go Russ, but I need to know when first" she laughed.

"Right, we're going on the Saturday after next."

"Well, I will be there but I don't know about Booth and Parker, I'd have to ask and see if Rebecca will let Booth have Parker for the day."

"What about me and Parker Bones?" Booth asked as he walked into the room.

"Hold on a minute Russ" she said into the phone before holding it away from her to talk to Booth. "Russ has invited us all to go to an amusement park with them for Haley's birthday in a couple of weeks."

"Does he know already?" Booth asked a little surprised.

"Know about what?" Bones asked back trying to figure her partner out.

"You know about" he gestured between the two of them to get his point across.

"Oh! No, I haven't said anything yet. Why? Should I not tell anyone?"

"Bones can we have this conversation later? Maybe when your brother's not waiting on the other end of the phone?"

Brennan looked to the phone in her hand almost as if she had forgotten it was there. "Right, so do you want to come with us or not?" she asked to get back on topic.

"I would love to. I'm not so sure about Parker though. I mean he would probably love to go, but it depends on whether Rebecca will let me take him."

"Russ" Brennan said returning her attention to the phone, "Booth and I will come but we'll have to get back to you about Parker." After she hung up she turned once more to Booth. "So am I not supposed to tell anyone that we are dating?"

"I don't know. Do we really want to actually tell everyone or just let them figure it out for themselves? We can keep it a secret for a while. You know if we tell everyone, especially Angela, no one will leave us alone about it. Or we could just say to heck with it and make an announcement."

"I think," she started, "we should wait for a little while and see how it goes. Angela wants to do some kind of welcome home dinner party thing for you and we can tell them then if they haven't already figured it out" she suggested.

"That sounds perfect" he agreed punctuating the point with a kiss.

*~BONES~*

At the lab later that day, he was broken out of his thoughts by a voice off to his left. "Booth, sweetie, when would be a good time to throw you a surprise party?" Angela asked.

"You are asking _me_ when a good time to throw _me_ a surprise party? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? It can't be a_ surprise_ party if I _know_ about it."

"Fine" Angela laughed, "so it won't be a surprise party. When would be a good time for your _non-surprise_ party then?"

"This weekend. That way when you get hammered you don't have to worry about work the next morning."

"I resent that remark. I would never" at a disbelieving look from him she adjusted her statement, "ok, I would, but I have no intention of getting wasted. The weekend is great though. That gives me four days to plan!"

"Ang, there is no need to plan anything. We can all just meet up at the diner or the Founding Fathers bar."

She gave him a look that clearly told him she thought he was crazy, but didn't say anything about it. "So how's the memory coming along?" she asked instead.

"Yeah Seeley, is it getting any better?" Cam added as she drew close enough to join in.

"As a matter of fact it is. It's a slow process, but all the little pieces are starting to fall into place. It's just a matter of time" Booth answered honestly.

"So are you two like dating now?" Angela asked Bren a while later while bouncing on the balls of her feet, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Yes we are and you can go tell the rumor and collect on the bets if you want" sounded from the corner of the room. Both women turned surprised to hear him answer since they thought he was still asleep.

"Booth! How long have you been awake?" Brennan exclaimed.

"Long enough, Bones. You look happy Angela" he commented.

"Oh Sweeties, you have no idea how long I have waited for this! You just made my week!" she exclaimed hugging Brennan tightly. "No, my year!" she amended rushing over to hug the now standing Booth.

They both simply laughed as she practically ran out of the room with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. As Bones started gathering her things to leave, they could hear "Hodgins, you'll never guess what Bren and Booth just told me!" resounding down the hall.

"So much for waiting to see how things work themselves out" Brennan said with a resigned sigh.

*~BONES~*

"Hey, we haven't had a proper dinner date yet. How about you go home and put on a nice dress and we go out?" Booth suggested later that night when they were alone in his apartment.

"That sounds like a very good idea. See you in about an hour and a half?"

"It's a date" he deadpanned before walking her to the door and kissing her goodbye.

"It's just dinner!" Brennan chastised herself as she stood wrapped in her robe in front of her closet. "With Booth as your first real date" a voice in the back of her head taunted. She had never worried this much about what she would wear for _anything_, let alone a simple dinner date.

Then again, there was nothing simple about this date. This was, _hopefully_, her last first date. This thought stopped her dead in her tracks. Did she really want to spend the rest of her life with him? Booth drove her crazy, they argued constantly, he insisted on displaying alpha male tendencies, he was always butting into her personal life. He could almost always make her laugh, he understood her and her issues, he accepted her as she was, he was patient when she didn't understand, simply hearing his voice sent shivers of joy through her. If she were honest with herself, which she tried always to be (except when it came to her feelings for Booth), he was her … something. 'Soul mate' was too cheesy and unscientific, 'meant to be' was too much like believing in fate, 'other half' made her sound dependant on him, 'perfect fit' was closer.

The more she thought about it, only one word seemed right for what they were 'partners'. She knew that they had always told everyone that they were "just partners" but that's what they were in the most all-encompassing sense of the word, in and out of work. They worked together as equals and always took the other's opinions and ideas into account regardless how different they were from their own. She laughed aloud as she realized that neither had ever lied to anyone about their relationship. They were and always had been 'partners'. Until now they had simply ignored the non-professional aspects of that partnership.

Across town, Booth was showered and cleanly shaven looking through his closet for the perfect suit. After tossing aside the fourth shirt in a row he burst out laughing. "Oh my God! I'm turning into a girl!" he exclaimed to the empty room. He was an attractive man and had never had trouble impressing women. He had never been one to really think about what he was going to wear. At work he wore a black suit and white shirt with the first fun tie he came across. When he dressed casually he had a good array of nicely fitting tees and jeans. For dates anything in his closet would suffice, _usually_. But here he was standing in front of his closet with his nicest suit trying to find the perfect suit, shirt, tie combo.

Before long he emerged from the room with his hair gelled meticulously, and his suit jacket hanging from his hand. Checking the time again and seeing that he had plenty of time, he pocketed his keys, wallet, and phone and left in search of the nearest flower shop.

Reaching the shop, Booth began searching it for the perfect flowers to get her. Normally roses were the flower of choice for someone you liked enough to be willing pay the higher price, and although he was more than willing to pay it, Temperance Brennan was not a normal girl. So he moved on. Finally in the back corner of the shop he saw a group of daffodils. A faint memory tugged at his conscious, something to do with daisies and Jupiter. "Perfect" he muttered as he made his way to them. Although the memory was faint, the implication was clear enough, Bones loved daffodils. Smiling, he picked out a dozen and moved off to pay for them. His purchase secured in a bag, he began the walk back to his apartment to await Bones' arrival.

*~BONES~*

Suddenly he was startled by a knock at the door. Walking quickly over, he took a deep calming breath and wiped his hands down his pant legs. Taking one more deep breath, he opened the door with his classic charm smile in place. When he saw her, however, the smile that replaced it was one of genuine surprise and delight. She was always beautiful, even when she was knee deep in mud and remains, but now she was absolutely gorgeous. He stood in the doorway speechless and unable to move.

As the door opened, Brennan looked up to meet Booth's eyes. He looked exceptionally good in that suit and the shirt made his eyes sparkle, or maybe it was just her. After a couple beats of silence in which he was practically frozen she couldn't help but laugh. "Booth? Are you alright?" she asked through her laughter. When he didn't answer, she got an idea. Shifting closer to him, she leaned up on her tip-toes, braced her hands on his shoulders, and kissed him soundly.

Booth was shocked out of his stupor when Brennan suddenly kissed him. He quickly regained his senses and joined in the kiss. Pulling away a long moment later a smile once again graced his attractive face. "Well, if that's the response I get for being speechless, I oughta do it more often" he quipped stepping aside to allow her into the room.

… "Booth, what are you –" but she cut off when he turned around holding a beautiful bouquet of daffodils. "My favorite" she said breathlessly.

"I know" was the simple reply.

"But how did you –"

"I walked to the flower shop a couple of blocks up. And when I saw them I just knew. By the way, is 'Jupiter' still your password?"

*~BONES~*

The car was quiet as she ignored the smug tone of his last comment and focused on parking. When she turned her attention to the building across the parking lot her breath caught in her throat. The place was small but beautiful. The building itself was white with large bay windows. The view through the sheer curtains was of pure elegance. Most of the tables that she could see were only large enough for two. Each was laid with elegant tablecloths and lit with candles whose light shimmered off the crystal and silver and china that lay on the tables. Around the building was a beautiful garden that shone in the night with twinkle lights strewn among the shrubs and trees. The entire place had an air of slightly understated elegance. There was nothing flashy or gaudy to attract attention. No gold ornamentation or rich colors meant to establish an atmosphere of luxury.

By the time that she regained her faculties, Booth had already come around and opened her door. He simply stood and watched the astonishment wash across her face with a blinding smile on his own. He was glad that he had remembered his old army buddy in all his excitement. Simply the look on her face made it worth it.

Turning to face the man standing patiently beside her she struggled to find words for the various thoughts rushing through her head. Finally she settled on "Booth, how did you ever find this place?"

"The owner is an old friend of mine. Now are you coming or are you going to sit out here all night?" he asked, the humor back in its rich tones.

In answer she stepped from the vehicle and took his offered arm as she locked the doors.

As the meal progressed conversation once again flowed easily and while they talked about the squints they managed to keep the topic of work itself at bay. Brennan filled in the gaps in his memory about what had happened between Angela and Hodgins as best she could. She informed him of the major changes in Cam's life recently, namely the fact that she had taken in Michelle. She also filled in the details about Zach's incarceration and the interns that were on rotation until she could pick one to replace him. In addition she confessed that she wasn't sure she wanted to pick one. The way things were now, she couldn't get too attached to any of them like she had with Zach. He tried to point out that getting close and building a relationship with her interns wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, but she was still more than a little dubious after losing Zach. Besides, this way they all got the experience working for law enforcement and with her she reasoned.

Before they knew it, they had finished the main course and a waiter had taken their dessert order. Glancing around, a smile lit Booth's face as an idea suddenly claimed him. Standing, he quickly made his way around the table and held his hand out to his dining companion. "Would you like to dance Ms. Brennan?" he asked with false pompousness.

"Why I would love to Mr. Booth" she played along giving him a coy smile and extending her hand to his.

With that, Booth led Bones out onto the small, un-crowded dance floor. As they reached the floor a new song started. Booth took Bones into his arms and they began to slowly sway to the music.

*~BONES~*

The drive back to his apartment was uneventful and quiet since Bones had fallen asleep practically before he had shut her door. Looking over at his sleeping girlfriend Booth smiled he couldn't believe how lucky he was. It had been far simpler to convince Bones to give him a chance than he had anticipated and so far, everything was going great. Granted they had just started dating, but it felt like they had been together forever and they already knew the kind of things from each other's past that would usually scare someone off. They worked together, so they already understood the pressure and precedence that sometimes came with the job. They were aware of their differing viewpoints and had worked through them, to an extent (usually by agreeing to disagree). He knew about her past in the foster system and her parents' and brother's criminal pasts. She knew about his difficult childhood, some of the horrors of when he was a Ranger, and his gambling problem. She knew and loved his kid and Parker loved her. They had already been through so much, both personally and professionally, that he was confident they could get through anything.

*~BONES~*

Booth woke up the next morning to the shrill ring of a phone. Blindly groping at the bedside table, he found the offending object and answered "Booth."

On the other side of town, Perotta looked at her phone questioningly. She had been sure she had dialed Dr. Brennan's number. "Um, I'm sorry, I thought I called Dr. Brennan's cell" she stammered.

Hearing this, Booth finally opened his eyes and blearily looked at the phone in his hand. It was in fact Bones'. "You did. Just a minute" he said into the phone before turning to the woman sleeping next to him. "Bones, phone's for you." Her only acknowledgement was to wave a hand at him in annoyance. "Bones, I think it's important."

"Fine, who is it?" she asked turning over and yawning widely. In response he simply handed her the phone. His memory still wasn't up to par and although the voice was familiar, he couldn't place it half asleep. Taking the phone, Brennan blinked rapidly several times trying to wake herself. "Brennan" she said into the phone.

"Sorry to wake you Dr. Brennan, but some remains were found in a construction site and we need you to help make an ID" Perotta relayed a little uncomfortable with the situation. So they were _sleeping_ together now? There went any _prayer_ of a chance she _thought_ she _might_ have had at getting Booth. And this was not really the way she would have preferred to learn that particular piece of information.

"What's the address Agent Perotta? I'll be there as soon as possible." After receiving the address, Bones hung up and sighed. She really didn't feel like working right now, and especially without Booth. When she tried to get out of the bed, she found that a strong arm was keeping her from doing so. "Booth, you have to let go. I have to go to work."

"Fine!" he announced releasing his grip. "Call me later?"

*~BONES~*

Ang's demeanor changed abruptly and a brilliant smile replaced the small frown of moments before. "So spill!" she exclaimed.

"Spill what?" Bren asked deciding to play dumb.

"Don't pull that with me, you know exactly what I'm talking about! You have to tell me all about last night."

"What happened last night?" Cam asked poking her head into the room.

When Bren didn't answer right away, Angela blurted out, "Bren and Booth went on a _real_ date! Isn't that great! I mean it only took them four years and …" she trailed off doing a quick mental count. 'Senator's aid, 'valley fever Christmas', Mala Muerte gang shooting, Kenton shooting at Bren and bombing Booth and kidnapping Bren, New Orleans voodoo, Sweet Pete in Vegas, Bren and Hodgins buried by Gravedigger, Howard Epps, Booth being kidnapped and tortured, the psychotic paramedic, taxi explosion, Pam, the Gravedigger _again_, the black knight, resonance chamber, Booth's tumor and coma and amnesia' "no less than _20_ near death experiences. Wow, you guys _really_ need to be more careful" she scolded Brennan.

"So you went on a date, huh? Where to?" Cam asked managing to hide the small twinge of jealousy from her voice.

Brennan blushed slightly at all of the attention, but decided that answering would be the quickest way to get this over with. "We went to this really nice restaurant owned by his friend Marcos. We ate, we talked, we danced, we went home, end of story" she said decisively.

"Awww. You danced? Was it a slow dance? Where did you dance? Is he any good? And how was the food?" gushed Ang.

"Yes, yes, at the restaurant, yes but I already knew that from Aurora, and fantastic" was the concise response.

"Come on Bren, you have to give us more than that! I want all the juicy details!"

*~BONES~*

As Bones walked into her office, Booth put his phone on speaker. She wanted to be annoyed at Booth for the distraction of Parker's stories, after all she had work to do and listening to Parker was not making it easy. Then again, she loved Parker and the stories really were funny, and it was really touching that Booth wanted to include her in the conversation with his son, it was almost like she had a real family again. Not that Russ, Amy, and the girls weren't family because she really did love them all; and she had been steadily rebuilding her relationship with her father, but it wasn't the same as it had been once. It felt good to be included in Booth's family. She was broken from her reverie by the resounding tones of Booth's laugh.

When he had composed himself and assured his son that he was not in fact making fun of him, he broached the subject that had prompted this conversation in the first place. "Hey Bub, your mom told you that we are switching weekends right?"

"Yeah, she said I have to stay here this weekend" Parker affirmed slightly downtrodden.

"Did she tell you why?" Booth ventured.

"Nope."

"Parker, how would you like to go on a trip with your dad, me, and my family?" Bones asked.

"Dr. Bones! I didn't know you were there! Where would we go?" Parker asked, suddenly much happier.

"Well, my niece's birthday is next week, and she invited all three of us to go with her family to Kings Island to celebrate."

"Kings Island! That is so cool! When?" the little boy cheered.

"Next weekend, Bub. I'm gonna pick you up Friday and we'll all drive up there, then we're going to the park Saturday. So what do you say? Are you gonna come?" Booth asked with a wink and his charm smile in Bones' direction.

"Yeah!" Parker said enthusiastically.

*~BONES~*

The rest of the week passed quickly and routinely. Booth spent his mornings at the lab with Bones and the Squint Squad, ate lunch (usually at the diner) with Bones, and then had a session with Sweets before heading home for the day with some kind of assignment from Sweets meant to stimulate memories. Bones would get home about 7 and they would make dinner together and talk, watch some TV, and go to bed.

By the time Friday rolled around, there were multiple reasons for celebration. It had been a difficult case to solve, but they had eventually managed to isolate the weapon and find the murderer. The tension between Perotta and Brennan was still palpable, but it was lessening as the blonde woman came to terms with the new development in Booth and Brennan's relationship

When Brennan returned to what she was fast beginning to think of as home (Booth's apartment), she was surprised not to find Booth right away. Venturing back into the bedroom, she found him just finishing buttoning his royal blue shirt. "Honey, I'm home" she called from the doorway teasingly.

"I can see that" he responded walking towards her. After a brief kiss, he started steering her towards the bathroom. "Now hurry up and get in the shower. How would it look for the guest of honor to be late to his own party?"

"Booth, stop pushing! I am perfectly capable of finding my own way to the bathroom" she complained swatting at his hands. As she dressed, she contemplated how different this relationship was from any she had ever had before. She and Booth had been dating for two weeks and had been sleeping together a little longer than that, but so far they hadn't had sex and neither seemed to be in a big hurry to get there. The relationship was not without passion, but it was about so much more than that. If she really took the time to think about why they hadn't crossed that line yet, she could only conclude that it was because every relationship that either had ever been in had been mostly about the physical. She knew for a fact that that was what her relationships had been about. She had never really allowed herself to get too emotionally attached before to keep herself from getting hurt. This time, she wanted the emotional attachment. This time she was willing to risk feeling the pain she had felt at fifteen all over again. Booth had said that they would just never break up, that they could spend the rest of their lives together, and he had sounded so sure. He had made it sound reasonable and effortless – no, not effortless (neither was naive enough to believe there would be no problems) – not effortless but _obvious_ and she trusted him implicitly.

"I got you a present. Don't look so surprised" he mock scolded as he led her to the nearest mirror so she could see the necklace he bought for herself.

She had to admit that Booth had excellent taste when it came to jewelry. The necklace he had picked was beautiful in its simplicity. Hanging from a delicate gold chain was an oval locket with a dolphin carved into the front. "Booth, it's _beautiful_" she breathed.

"Open it" he whispered back in her ear.

When she did so, tears sprung to her eyes and her breath caught in her throat. It was perfect! "My family" she whispered as a smile made its way across her face and a wayward tear fell. She wiped at it embarrassedly. On the one side of her new locket was a picture from many, many years ago that featured her parents, Russ, and herself at a park all smiling brilliantly. On the other side was a picture of Booth, Parker, and herself taken about six months before at the lab. Turning from the mirror, she hugged Booth fiercely before letting go suddenly. "We have a party to get to" she announced as she made her way to the door.

What seemed like minutes later, but was actually over three hours and several drinks later, Sweets said his goodbyes and made his way home to Daisy. Cam was the next to go, stating that it was already midnight and she needed to "get home and check on Michelle." The two couples remained for about an hour longer before Brennan complained about practically falling asleep on her feet and Booth was having difficulties hiding his yawns. "Ang, we're gonna go" Brennan informed her friend through a yawn of her own.

"But, it's still early Bren and its Booth's party" she complained.

"Sorry Ang, but we really need to go, besides, I think the party's been over for a while now."

"Fine, be an old married couple!" Ang complained. "Hodgins will stay and dance with me."

Laughing, Booth led Brennan towards the door. He had heard Angela's comment about them being like a married couple and his heart had leapt into his throat. It was no secret that he was in love with her and he was long past lying to himself about wanting to spend the rest of his life with the woman he was currently steering through the dwindling crowd. Her silence in the face of their friend's joke bothered him a little though. He was just starting to get seriously worried when she smiled slightly and took hold of the locket he had given her. He still didn't know what she was thinking, or if she would ever consent to marry him, but he did know one thing with absolute certainty. Bones was his family now, she had been for a long time and she always would be, married or not.

Brennan, meanwhile, was having a minor mental breakdown. When Ang had referred to her and Booth as a 'married couple', she had actually felt butterflies in her stomach. The fact that the thought of it didn't scare her scared her. She was Temperance Brennan, forensic anthropologist, novelist, foster kid, commitment-phobic. The thought of being married to anyone should have made her start running for the nearest door. But instead of running away, she felt herself leaning, quite literally at the moment, towards that possibility with Booth. Without even thinking about it, she reached up a hand to hold her new locket as a sweet smile lit upon her lips. She didn't know when or how or why, but somewhere along the way, even before the most recent change in their relationship, Booth had become her family.

*~BONES~*

When she woke, she was once again wrapped in Booth's arms. She was an independent woman and didn't need a man close by for her to feel secure and safe. Then again, as she had realized the previous night, nothing about her relationship with Booth could be categorized as 'normal'. Whatever the reason, when she was with him, she could do the typical girly things and be a … softer version of herself without feeling at a loss. He never made her feel less competent or strong or independent even when he was being the alpha male and taking charge of the situation.

Opening his eyes, Booth took in the sight before him – Brennan lounging in _his _bed, wearing _his_ shirt, completely absorbed in her writing – he could definitely get used to this. He noticed that her forehead creased as she hit a mental wall with the writing and her hands stopped their steady flow over the keyboard. Without removing her eyes from the screen, she reached for her coffee as she read over what she had written trying to find a new route, a way to fix it. As she moved to replace the cup on the nightstand, he reached out and took hold of the cup, removing it from her hand and bringing it to his lips.

"I'll see you in half an hour Ang. Are we meeting somewhere or are you picking me up?" Booth heard from his place on the couch.

"I'll come get you. Besides, it'll give me a chance to see your little love nest" Angela teased before hanging up.

Half an hour later, precisely, there was an excited wrap on the door of Booth's apartment. Moments later, Brennan answered the door and Booth could hear her trying to hurry their friend out. Angela's voice drifted through to him. "Booth, you have a nice place. It's a lot 'homier' than I pictured."

"Uhuh, and how exactly did you picture my apartment?"

"More 'bachelor pad' less 'Mr. Mom'" she said with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders.

Booth and Brennan could only laugh at how ridiculous Angela could be some times. "So, now that you've analyzed Booth's apartment, are you ready to go? I thought you wanted to shop" Brennan spoke out to try and get back on track.

"Just a minute. I still need to look around a little closer" Angela complained.

Deciding that the quickest way to get Angela going would be to control her explorations, Brennan offered a tour. "There's really not much to see. You saw the entry hall and living room. Then there's the kitchen, Parker's room, the bathroom, and Booth's room" she explained as she ushered the curly headed artist passed the rooms allowing her to briefly poke her head in each.

The urgency with which Bren was trying to get her out of the apartment piqued her interest, especially since Booth didn't seem to particularly mind. She knew the rush was not inspired by Bren's desire to get to the mall. Regardless, Angela played along with Brennan's rush and only briefly looked into the rooms as they passed by. With her artist's eye for details, however, she was still able to catch several things to store for later contemplation. The entire place was tidy – not something she would expect of a man's place – but despite her earlier teasing, she could tell that Booth had been responsible for the decoration. She was also able to pick up several small signs that Bren was already making herself at home here. Her keys lay on the entrance table next to Booths, her favorite coffee mug had found a place on the kitchen counter, the jacket she had worn to work Friday was hanging from one of the kitchen chairs, her toiletries were not in the guest bathroom – implying that they resided in the en suite with Booth's – and the brief glimpse she had gotten of his room revealed some of her clothes in the closet, a shared bed, her computer resting on a bedside table, and their dirty clothes intermingled in the hamper. She hadn't realized how spot on her teasing jab at the bar had been until now, and she marveled at how comfortable both of them seemed with this new situation. Generally speaking, Bren was not the type to give up her space, yet she had for all intents and purposes moved in with Booth. Heck he was even letting her drive his precious car.

*~BONES~*

"Sorry Sweetie, but you know that I have to live vicariously through you. So have you?" Angela asked unfazed.

"No" Bren said quietly, almost embarrassed – not that it was anything to be embarrassed about. "No, we haven't had sex yet."

"What? Why?" Angela asked shocked. "You have been sharing a bed since –"

"How did you –"

"I saw the bed Sweetie. It's kind of obvious. But back to the point. You have been sharing a bed for what? Two weeks? And you have been dating at least that long. So why haven't you? You usually don't wait longer than a week to have sex with a guy. So why are you waiting with Booth?"

"Like I said, it's different with Booth. Every relationship I have ever had has been based primarily on sex. Not that that's a bad thing. But with Booth … I don't know Ang. I don't think I could stand it if it didn't work out, so we are taking our time. Does that make any sense?"

*~BONES~*

"Yes. Dr. King said that I was fit to return to duty. My memory is almost back to what it was before the surgery, and all of the damage to my memory is retroactive. He doesn't see any reason why it should affect my work. Physically I'm fine."

Cullen could see that Dr. Brennan wanted to contribute, probably by filling in all the boring scientific details, but she held her tongue after sharing a look with Booth. He never would have thought that Brennan could be controlled or reined in by anyone, especially after that second case – the first she worked out in the field. Now, at least, Booth was able to keep her from making the type of mistakes she had then.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it. You are back to work then. That'll be all," he dismissed. The partners rose from their seats and walked to the door, Booth's hand in its customary place at her back. "And please don't go getting shot or anything anytime soon" Cullen called after them as they reached the door.

Booth was sitting at his desk immersed in his own paperwork a short time later when there was a knock on the door. "Can I come in Seeley?"

"Sure Cam, what's up?" Cam took a seat across form Booth but didn't say anything, she couldn't even really look him in the eye. "Come on, Camile, you can talk to me. What's wrong?"

"This thing with Brennan, are you sure?"

"Where is this coming from Cam?" he asked hesitantly, just bordering on defensive.

"It's just that … you've been under a lot of _stress_ lately and I know that she was there for you while you were still lost trying to remember … and are you _sure_?" she asked again. "It's not just some kind of post traumatic thing is it?" she asked, and he could almost hear a hint of hope in her voice. "I mean … just over two _weeks_ ago she was asking you to father her child and have _nothing_ to do with it, and now … well, now it's like you skipped the whole early dating step and jumped straight to _living together_ and taking _family_ vacations."

Booth was stunned for a minute, still trying to figure out where Cam was coming from. Shaking his head, he decided it didn't really matter why she was questioning him, the answer was the same regardless. "Yes Cam I _am_ sure about this. I love her and it's _not_ just a reaction to the amnesia or tumor or anything else. I've been in love with her for a long time now, and was just too … scared of scaring her off to do anything about it. It's the real thing Camille" he said solemnly.

*~BONES~*

Friday afternoon Cam cleared her throat from the door. "So, Dr. Brennan, I assume you are getting ready to leave?"

"Yes, we should get going. It's a long drive" she responded slightly embarrassed to be caught kissing Booth by her boss and his former lover. Yes, she thought, some aspects about their relationship were going to take a while to iron out. At the moment, things like this were still just a little awkward. "If you need me, I'm taking my phone and laptop with me."

"Go and have fun, don't worry about work for once" Cam admonished walking away from the couple.

*~BONES~*

**Author's Note: Thank you for reading, please continue to the second chapter to read the newest installment of this story.**


	12. Pieces of a Family Trip

**Pieces of a Family Trip**

**A Bones Fanfic**

**By Amanda**

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**Sequel to ****Falling to Pieces****, ****Picking up the Pieces****, **

**Putting the Pieces Back Together****, ****Bits and Pieces****, **

**Pieces of My Heart****, ****All the Little Pieces****,**

**The Date****, ****Pieces of a Case****, ****and ****Pieces of a Week**

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**Spoilers for all four seasons (I think), but most are vague. **

**No copyright infringement intended. I only own the story line.***~BONES~*

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Even with the early start and the fast food dinner, it was still 10:30 before the SUV pulled up outside the hotel. Bones had fallen asleep about fifteen minutes before, despite her great efforts not to, and Parker had been sleeping for at least the past hour. Parking in an open spot near the door, Booth quietly left his sleeping family in the car to go check in and get the room keys.

"Bones, time to get up" Booth whispered ten minutes later.

"We there?" she asked sleepily.

"Yeah, I already checked us in. Parker's out like a light. Do you want to carry him or the bags?"

She considered it for a moment before finally deciding that the bags would be lighter and that being half asleep as she was, she was liable to hurt Parker or herself. "I'll get the bags" she informed him. "What room are we in?"

"208" he said, his voiced muffled from inside the car. "I checked and Russ and your dad are already in for the night" he voiced as he emerged with his son in his arms.

She merely nodded and made her way to the side door with the key in hand.

*~BONES~*

As Booth settled Parker in his bed and started taking off his shoes, Bones' phone rang. "Brennan" she answered with a yawn from her spot on the other bed.

"Tempe, it's me. Did you guys get in ok?"

"Yeah, Russ, we got in ok. Booth's putting Parker to bed now. The girls asleep?"

"Yeah, so is Amy. I just wanted to make sure that you all got in, and let you know that we're meeting with Dad in the lobby at 8:30 for breakfast. You are invited to join us, of course."

"Thanks Russ. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight" she replied smiling as she closed the phone.

By the time she finished her conversation with her brother Booth had finished putting Parker to bed and had already gotten ready for bed himself. "What did Russ want?" he asked as he settled under the sheet beside her.

"Just to make sure that we're here and invite us down to breakfast tomorrow" she relayed as she moved to her overnight bag. "He said they're all meeting down in the lobby at 8:30" she continued from behind the partially closed bathroom door. "The park doesn't open until 10, so that gives us plenty of time to eat, get there, and get tickets before it's too busy. We should probably all try to fit in one vehicle," she mumbled around her toothbrush, "but there are eight of us, aren't there? I guess we'll have to take two, I don't think Russ's van is big enough. You don't mind my dad riding with us do you?"

"Of course not, Bones. You know I like your dad" Booth returned.

"_Respect_," she corrected walking to the bed. "I know you _respect_ my dad for what he did for Russ and me, and I understand that, sort of. But you've never said that you _like_ my dad. … I don't even know if _I_ like my dad" she confessed.

Wrapping his arms around her, Booth tried to reason with her. "Max is a good guy, Bones."

"He's a _criminal_, Booth!"

"Shh, keep your voice down, Parker's still sleeping" Booth admonished.

"Sorry" she whispered back sheepishly. "I still don't really understand how you can say that my dad is a '_good guy'_, Booth. He was a bank robber and murderer. He killed at least two people and burnt their bodies. How does that translate into a 'good guy'?"

"It's not all black and white, Bones. There are shades of grey, and Max Keenan lives in those shades of grey. Yes, he did some bad things," Booth conceded, "but he also did what he had to do to protect his family. And those people he killed, Bones, those people were by no means innocent."

"That's why I prefer science" she said quietly. "In science, there are no shades of grey. There is right and wrong, positive and negative, truth and falsehoods. Things are much easier when they are black and white."

"I know, Bones, I know. Now get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and it starts about 7:00."

"We won't need an hour and a half to get ready Booth. Especially since that doesn't count breakfast."

"You've never had to get Parker ready for the day" he reminded her as he set the alarm.

*~BONES~*

"Alright Bones, time to get up" Booth announced in a sing song voice when the alarm went off the next morning.

"I'm awake" she replied groggily. "I'm gonna jump in the shower, why don't you get Parker up?" she suggested as she made her way to the bathroom.

"Parker buddy, it's time to get up!" Booth called as he shook his sleeping son.

"But dad, I don't wanna" the younger Booth complained not even bothering to open his eyes.

"I thought you wanted to go to Kings Island, but maybe I was wrong" Booth taunted.

The young boy's eyes flew open. "No, I'm up. I'm going!"

"Well, when Bones gets out of the bathroom you need to get ready so that we can go eat breakfast with her family. Why don't we get dressed while we wait for her?" the older Booth suggested.

By the time that the two Booths had managed to get dressed, Bones was done showering and dressing and had just stepped out of the bathroom attaching the back to one of her earrings. She was dressed simply – a pair of kaki Capri's, double tank tops (one white, one a pale blue), her hair in a pony tail and just a hint of make-up. Booth still thought she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. He didn't know why, but the sight of her always made his breath catch for just a moment, even when they were at a crime scene.

Looking up at the room, Brennan's heart stopped momentarily. Booth always looked good whether he was in a suit and goofy tie or dressed as he was now in a pair of olive shorts and a white t-shirt. When her heart once again regained its normal rhythm, she felt a tug at it taking in the sight of her partner with his little boy, who like him was wearing shorts and a t-shirt (which proudly proclaimed FBI across his chest).

The mood in the room was instantly lightened as Parker noticed her entrance. "Hi Dr. Bones! You look pretty" he proclaimed.

"Thank you Parker, you look pretty good yourself" she replied sending a smile his way. "Bathroom's free; why don't you and your dad brush your teeth?" she continued as she made her way to where her laptop set.

"Bones, what are you –" Booth started but was cut off.

"I know we are kind of on a vacation, or whatever, but that doesn't mean I can't check my email while you two finish getting ready" she reasoned easily.

Realizing that that was probably the best he would get out of her even if he were to argue the point, he gave a resigned sigh and followed his son into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

*~BONES~*

Russ was standing in the lobby looking for his sister when a seldom heard but familiar laugh caught his attention. Swinging around to the source of the laughter, he couldn't help but note just how happy and relaxed Tempe looked with Booth and his son. Walking into the lobby, one would never know that they weren't really a family. Tempe was walking between her partner and his son, Booth's hand, as always, at the small of her back and one of hers held tightly by the curly headed boy, listening intensely to whatever it was that the boy was saying, trusting her partner to guide them through the room. He was glad to see that she had seemingly finally found the family and happiness that his little sister deserved. Noticing Booth's eyes scanning the congested room, he called out to him, waving a hand in the air. "Booth, Tempe over here."

Glancing up briefly from the chatting boy to spot her brother, Brennan spared a wave and a bright smile before returning her attention back to the immediate conversation. Booth, ever the observant one, had actually spotted Russ before the greeting, and was already steering the small family towards him. As they reached the waiting man, Booth was the first to extend a greeting. Shaking the other man's hand he said "It's good to see you again, Russ. Thanks for inviting us."

"It's no problem, besides I learned a while back that you and my sister come as a package deal," he joked. "So how are you doing? Are you back to work yet?"

"Yeah, I was just reinstated Monday, which is a good thing. I was going stir crazy not being able to do anything" the FBI agent confessed with a bright smile.

By this time, Parker had finished telling Bones his story and she took advantage of the break in chatter to greet her brother properly. "Russ, it feels like it's been forever!" she exclaimed as she gave him a big hug. "How are Amy and the girls? _Where_ are Amy and the girls?" she added looking around.

"They're waiting at our table with Dad, and why don't you ask them yourself?" he responded laughing. "And who is this?" he asked turning his attention to the little boy with big brown eyes and curly blond hair half hiding behind his sister.

"This," she answered bringing him around to stand in front of her, "is Parker, Booth's son. Parker, this is my brother Russ" she introduced.

"Hi" Parker answered shyly.

"Hi" Russ answered holding out his hand "it's nice to meet you. Are you hungry? My wife and daughters are saving a table for us."

At the mention of food and the possibility of other people his age, Parker brightened considerably. A smile, reminiscent of his father's lit his face. Grabbing hold of one of Booth's and one of Brennan's hands he eagerly asked "Where are we going?" causing all three adults to laugh before Russ turned to lead the way towards the dining room and the rest of the family.

*~BONES~*

"Daddy! Aunt Tempe!" a clear voice rang out across the room as the small group entered the dining area. The child was out of her chair and sprinting towards them before anyone at the table could stop her.

"Hi Haley, I missed you too" Brennan answered on a laugh as she bent to hug the girl. "Why don't we go back to the table and I'll introduce everyone OK?"

Haley nodded happily and grabbing her dad's hand, quickly led the way back over to their table. Once there, Brennan took a minute to figure out the best way to make introductions. Booth and Russ shared a look and had to bite back a laugh when they saw the puzzle-solving look on her face. Within seconds she had made a decision and started the introductions. "This is Booth, my par – boyfriend," she amended waving a hand towards the man in question, "and his son Parker. Parker, Booth you already know my dad. This is Amy, Russ's wife, and their daughters Haley and Emma" she concluded with a decisive nod. Once the introductions were made, she walked around the table to hug the rest of her family before taking a seat between Booth and her brother.

Breakfast passed with quiet conversation about Booth and Haley's health, catching up on each other's lives, and plans for the coming day. "So, are we just doing the main park, or are we going to the water park too?" Booth asked while the kids were preoccupied in a conversation of their own.

"There's a water park? But I didn't pack a swimsuit" Brennan interjected.

"How could you not bring a swimsuit Bones? That's like an essential no brainer, even if you don't plan on going to a beach or whatever, most hotels have pools" he responded seriously.

She was taken aback for a moment before she registered the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. When she did notice it she responded with an equally serious sounding, "Well we can't all be as smart as you, now can we? Especially those of us who rarely take a 'real vacation'" she added remembering a time years ago when he had been planning a vacation with Tessa and had criticized her idea of a vacation. By the time she got to the end of her spiel she was having a hard time controlling the twitching at the corner of her lips. Finally they both broke down and shared teasing smiles.

"Anyways … we figured that if we are only going to have one day, we probably won't make it to both" Amy answered the original question a little uncertainly. "The girls and I thought we'd just wear our suits under our clothes and we'd see how the day went."

"That sounds like a great plan. Bones, we need to go back up to the room and change before we leave."

"But I told you I didn't bring a swimsuit" she countered.

"I figured you wouldn't think about it, so I packed one for you" he informed her with a smug grin. She simply glared for a moment before grudgingly giving him a kiss on the cheek and a 'thank you'.

Meanwhile, Max and Russ looked on with happy smiles on their faces. They were glad that Tempe had finally found happiness. She deserved it. Besides Booth seemed to be a great match for her – not that that was a surprise for either man. They had both noticed how well the two worked together in the past and had felt better leaving her behind knowing that she had a man like Booth watching over her. They were just glad that the two of them had finally gotten their act together and given a real relationship between them a chance.

Turning his attention from the new couple, Max took in his grandchildren. Granted, none of the three were technically his children's, but they were close enough. He had given up really having any kind of relationship with his kids years ago when he and his beloved Christine had left them behind. And he had never in his wildest dreams thought that he would actually get to spend time with his _grandchildren_. Just the thought of being able to see these beautiful youngsters grow into the amazing man and women they were bound to be brought a smile to his face. Maybe one day he would have a grandchild that actually sprang from Russ or Tempe, but until then, he was glad that they had both managed to find such wonderful families for themselves. Bringing himself back to the present, he smiled again at how well the three of them were getting along. Maybe he would be able to have the big, happy, united family after all, he mused.

His musings were interrupted as the other adults at the table began to get up. "We'll meet you out front in … ten minutes. That should give us all enough time to change right?" Bones asked looking to Booth.

"Yeah, ten minutes should be fine" he reassured her. "Hey Bub, we gotta go back up to the room for a couple of minutes. Let's go."

Once they had gotten back to their room, Booth sent Parker to the bathroom with his swimming trunks to change while he dug out his own and Bones' swimwear. Taking in the sight of one of her own suits hanging from her boyfriend's fingers Brennan was stunned momentarily. "Booth, that's one of my suits."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious Bones" he countered lightly.

"But, I haven't been back to my apartment, except to pack for this trip, in close to a week. And I know that you haven't been there without me because you don't have a key" she pointed out with an adorably confused face.

"I could have just picked the lock," he reminded her "or gotten the super to let me in. He knows I'm there a lot, probably thought we've been dating for months. And if that didn't work, I could always just use my badge."

"But you didn't do any of those things" she protested.

He let her wait in suspense for a moment before answering with his infamous charm smile. "You're right I didn't, but I _could_ have."

"Then how in the world did you get my suit?" she asked exasperated.

"I asked Angela to pick one up for me, just in case you didn't think to pack one." Just then the bathroom door opened and Brennan grabbed her suit and ran for the other room glaring daggers at her partner the whole time to keep her own smile at bay.

*~BONES~*

Ten minutes later, all eight of them met in the parking lot trying to figure out car arrangements. Since the kids wanted to finish planning their day, it was agreed that Russ and Amy would take the three in their van, and Booth, Brennan, and Max would follow in Booth's SUV.

Conversation in the second vehicle started out on an awkward note when the first thing out of Max's mouth was, "It's about time the two of you got your act together. When can I expect more grandkids?"

Booth, flabbergasted, almost missed the turn off for the highway while trying to come up with a response. It wasn't the first time Max had thrown a comment at him from left field, but 'grandkids' weren't exactly the kind of thing you expected to hear from a man like Max.

Brennan on the other hand, just shook her head at her father's comment before responding. "We have only been dating for two weeks Dad, it will be a while before we even think about kids."

Booth met her eyes in the rearview mirror with a smile. She hadn't blown the idea out of the sky, simply deferred it for a later, more appropriate time. His day was looking up already.

The rest of the short trip was made in a mostly comfortable silence while the three soaked up the peace before the amusement park frenzy. "At least," Max thought to himself, "it's not raining this time."

*~BONES~*

The line for tickets was expectedly long, but the time was passed in pleasant conversation by the adults and an impromptu game of tag by the children.

Shortly before the group reached the ticket window, Amy dug into her backpack and passed out a walkie talkie to Booth and another to Max. "Trust me, you will appreciate these in about an hour. Cell service is notoriously spotty in some parts of the park, and with three kids, we'll all want to know where everyone else is" she explained.

"Thanks. So what exactly are the plans once we get in?" Booth asked pocketing the walkie.

"Well, I figure we can head straight to the back of the park and work our way towards the gate. That way we don't have to walk all the way back at the end of the day" Russ suggested.

"That's a good idea Russ. And it should bring us back to the Eiffel Tower and the International Fountain for the fireworks show" chimed in Brennan. At the look she received from Booth she just shrugged. "I grew up in Ohio, Booth. I have been here a time or two, although I imagine they have changed the park quite a bit since I was last here. Oh, and we are having lunch at La Rosa's if it's still here."

"Whatever you say Bones" was the cheeky response.

The next order of business was to corral the children and go over the ground rules. Leaving Russ and Max to hold their place in line, Amy, Booth and Brennan pulled Haley, Emma, and Parker out of the way for a talk.

"Alright Bub, I want you to have fun, but you have to make sure you stay with Amy, Russ, Max, Bones or I all the time. If you are with them and not me, you have to do what they say, alright?" Booth asked crouching down to be at eye level with his son. After securing the boy's promise he smiled before adding, "And not too many sweets, alright? I promise you can take some home with you, you don't have to eat it all today."

Laughing lightly Amy turned to her girls and issued very similar instructions before reminding them that they were each allowed to pick one souvenir for the day, and so to pick carefully.

The group arrived back in line just in time to buy the tickets and enter the park with the Brennan men.

*~BONES~*

Upon actually entering the park, Booth was amused to find that the excitement on the children's faces' was rivaled by that on his partner's. She looked so happy and carefree, just like she had in the picture of a teenaged version of herself in her parents' file. Her excitement only rose as they walked down International Street and she noticed La Rosa's Pizzeria as well as Graeter's Ice Cream. Tugging on his arm, much like Parker would, she pointed out the ice cream shop with huge smile announcing that she was _definitely_ going there before heading home.

Enjoying this new side of his girlfriend's personality, he sent Parker ahead with the others and slowed his pace a bit to prolong the experience.

Noticing the growing distance between them and the rest of her family, Brennan tried to up their pace, but Booth simply took her hand and with a charming smile told her to, "Relax, Bones. We'll catch up. Just enjoy this."

And, as predicted, they caught up five minutes later when Amy stopped the group for a family picture before anyone really had a chance to mess up their appearance too much with roller coasters and water rides. After finding a security officer that was willing to take the picture, Amy quickly arranged everyone and the picture was taken.

That 'official' business out of the way, the group finished making their way to the farthest ride the park had to offer, the world's longest wooden roller coaster, The Beast. The early start to the day meant the shortest lines for the record breaking coaster and 20 minutes after reaching the line, all eight people were fastened into their seats. Brennan felt a familiar mix of nerves and excitement as the ride started, one she remembered from the last time she had ridden this ride. She closed her eyes and tried to remember every twist, turn, and drop hidden from view by the trees. At one point, years ago, she practically had the course of the track memorized – the product of spending an entire day simply riding this ride over and over again with her best friend. Russ had called her crazy for ignoring all the other amusements the park had to offer, but there was just something about the unknown on this ride. As the car clinked up the first hill, she held tight to Booth's arm and held her breath; this was going to be the best four minutes all day, she just knew it.

The ride was an overall success with the family. Well for everyone but Emma, who exited the ride with a hand to her face shielding her nose. "Stupid wooden roller coaster," she mumbled under her breath.

"Emma, what happened?" Bones asked genuinely concerned.

"I dropped my sunglasses and when I bent down to grab them, there was a bump in the track and the lap bar tried to break my nose!"

The adults offered the proper amount of fuss over the incident while trying to hide their smirks of amusement. Parker and Haley, on the other hand, let loose with peals of laughter all the way to the line for the next ride, The Crypt. Upon entering the building and seeing that the ride was almost entirely in the dark, Haley declared that she couldn't ride it and Max readily agreed to sit this ride out in favor of waiting with his youngest granddaughter. Max and Haley used the time to scout out nearby rides and decide which would be next. Half an hour later, they met up with the group getting off of the ride and led them over to the relatively short line for the first water ride of the day.

"See Bones, aren't you glad I thought to bring your suit? Every good amusement park has at least one water ride" Booth teased lightly.

Instead of answering him, Brennan took Parker and Haley's offered hands and ran the short distance to the next available boat. "Sorry Booth," she called, not sounding the least bit genuine, once she and all three children were settled, "it looks like you'll have to ride in a different one." Russ, Amy and Max just laughed at his disbelieving face as he fastened himself into his seat in their boat.

At just past noon, the adults agreed to ride one last roller coaster in an effort to dry out before stopping for lunch. The candidate chosen for this purpose was the Diamondback, the newest and fastest coaster in the park. Upon hearing her parents' plan to dry off on the ride Emma started laughing and called Haley and Parker over before whispering something to the two, which set them off in a fit of giggles as well. All of the adults noticed, but none put any thought to it other than to be glad that they were getting along so well. Once they crested the last hill in the ride, however, all five wished they had asked to be let in on the joke. They were speeding towards a pool of water and would get soaked once again!

*~BONES~*

Suitably dry after a quick lunch of deliciously cold smoothies from Paradise Island and hot pizza at LaRosa's, pepperoni for the adults and cheese for the kids, the family took the short two minute walk to the Backlot Stunt coaster. After starting relatively lightly to allow their food to settle, the group proceeded to the Shake, Rattle and Roll.

"I'm not sure going on a ride that's primary function is spinning so soon after eating was the best idea you two have ever had" commented Max as they made their unsteady way to a shaded bench to sit a moment.

"Oh, come on Dad, you're just getting old. It wasn't that bad" Russ argued.

Max countered with a rueful "Then why do you look so green?"

When it was obvious Russ had no defense, he turned on his sister. "Tempe's the one who wanted to go on it in the first place. I've never really liked those kinds of rides."

"You were the one who insisted we ride the spinning tea cups when we went to Disney, Russ. And no one forced you to go on this, so I don't see how your weak stomach is my fault" was the childish taunt from the woman in question. Booth and Amy wisely decided to stay out of the impending argument and instead focused on making sure the kids weren't about to lose their lunch.

Once everyone was sufficiently recovered, they continued down the path towards their next target, the Vortex. One look had Russ shaking his head slowly. "There is no way I'm going on that thing. I just got my stomach unknotted" he practically whined.

"Come on dad, it's not that bad. It looks really fun," tempted Emma.

"Yeah, daddy, I'm going," chimed in his youngest.

"Alright girls, leave your dad alone, he'll ride the next one with us," Amy cut in knowing that Russ wouldn't be able to stand too much pleading or sad eyes.

As they neared the front of the line, Brennan noticed nearly identical dubious looks on her partner and his son's faces. She slowly removed her camera from her bag and snuck a picture of the two before addressing their apprehension. "It's ok if you two don't want to go on this. I promise I won't tease you too much if you would rather stay here with Russ." At the suspicious look from her partn – _no boyfriend_, she rolled her eyes and turned to his son, "I cross my heart Parker that I won't think any less of you if you don't want to ride this."

Studying her face a moment, the boy then turned to his father with a smile. "You can stay, dad, I'm gonna ride next to Dr. Bones! If she's not scared, I can be brave."

"I know you can Bub," Booth affectionately ruffled the blonde curls. "But, if you can be brave enough to tackle this monster, I think I can too. What do you think Bones? Do you think I can be as brave as you and Parker?"

"I don't know," she played along, "I think Parker may be braver than you, but you never know until you try."

Max just looked on with a soft smile. This was the closest Tempe had been to the little girl he remembered before he and Christine had had to leave. It gave him hope that not all was lost and that she could happily have a family again. He was shaken out of his head when Haley pulled on his hand announcing that it was their turn.

Six inversions and three minutes later, Booth was starting to question his son's sanity and his own decision making skills. He wasn't one to balk at fast speeds or steep drops, but he preferred to keep his feet below his head, thank you very much. Parker and Bones on the other hand had face splitting smiles and horse throats.

The next ride on the list, Firehawk, had a height requirement that was too high for all three kids, a fact for which Booth was secretly happy about. Taking in the sad faces on all three youngsters, and the fact that the others would be in line for at least 45 minutes plus the three minute ride, an idea started to form. "Russ, Amy, do you mind if I take the girls over to the carnival rides? I promise to keep them away from the ice cream," he added with a smirk.

"Sure, why don't I go with you? I'm not a huge fan of roller coasters anyway. That's more Amy's thing."

"It seems to be Bones' thing too. Maybe it's just a woman thing?" Booth suggested.

"Or even just a crazy person thing?" countered Russ.

Amy and Temperance looked at each other and rolled their eyes each thinking the same thing, "Men!" Contemplating his choices and taking another look at the track towering over them, Max decided that he should probably go with the kids and their fathers. After all, if he wanted to experience flying, there had to be safer ways, like hang-gliding or base jumping.

Bidding the two women goodbye, the other six members of the family walked the short distance to the carnival rides on the Cooney Mall. Once there, the men handed off one of the walkie talkies to Emma and instructed the kids to stay together before letting them wander the area on their 'own' while keeping them in sight. After a few minutes of slightly awkward small talk between Booth and the two men that he had previously arrested, the conversation finally settled on the two topics all three had in common: the kids and Temperance Brennan.

"Daddy, meet us at the bumper cars!" came over the walkie startling the men out of a comfortable silence. Quickly sending an affirmative reply, the three made their way towards the youngsters and into a competitive round, or four, of bumper cars. As they were getting ready for round five, a familiar laugh caught Booth's attention. Swiveling around, he spotted her and Amy, both laughing so hard they had to lean on each other for support, making their way through the crowd towards him.

"Wonder what's so funny," he commented, mainly to himself.

Hearing him, Russ followed his gaze to see his wife and sister and smiled. He was happily surprised to see them getting along so well, not that they didn't get along from the beginning, but Tempe was a tough one to get close to. Watching them now, you would never have guessed they hadn't been best friends since childhood.

Max had also noticed the diverted attention of the younger men and took a moment to enjoy the fact that both of his children seemed to be happy and had found themselves such amazing families. Starting to feel himself get emotional about his family regaining the closeness he had feared would be lost forever, he turned his attention quickly back to Parker and the girls and challenged them to one last round of bumper cars before they had to move on.

*~BONES~*

Brennan was barely able to make out the "I hope this is worth it" her boyfriend muttered as they were seated in the car of the Red Racer a half hour after they had first gotten into line. "Of course it will be," she chastised. As the train started to move, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was exhilarating to feel the wind whip by and even the feeling of her stomach in her chest as they crested the first hill. She wondered for a minute how she could have possibly forgotten how much fun it was to just let go and … have fun. The longer she spent here with her family enjoying the freeness of not having to worry about work or her reputation or other's opinions of her actions, the more she felt herself relax. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so … happy.

Before she knew it, the ride was over and Booth was getting out of his seat. Jumping up to follow him, she grabbed his arm and led him back to the line, this time for the Blue Racer. "Bones, we just did this one," he teased with a smirk on his face.

"No Booth, we just rode the _Red_ racer. Now we're going to ride the _Blue_ racer, and if we're lucky, it'll go backwards."

"What do you mean go backwards?"

"They sometimes run the trains in reverse so that you can't see what is coming next. That's the best way to ride. I remember once the finale of the fireworks show started just as we got half way up the first hill. We had the most spectacular view!" enthused the usually reserved scientist. Booth wasn't sure how he felt about riding a roller coaster in reverse, but there was no way he could say no and take away from the look of innocent bliss on her face. And her squeal of childlike glee when the car did in fact start moving in reverse put a smile on his face that had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she was right, this ride was definitely better in reverse.

Next on the agenda for the day was the Adventure Express. Upon finding out that the theme for the ride was Indiana Jones, Booth and Parker started quoting lines from the various 'Indie' movies. Before long, Russ had joined into the conversation and they started debating which of the four movies was the best.

The longest line they had encountered all day was over an hour long, but Brennan, Amy and the kids were determined that Drop Tower was worth every second of the wait. While they waited, Amy took the opportunity to make the family pose for several photos. The first time that they saw what the ride actually involved, the women's faces lit with expectant smiles while the men's faces paled a shade or two. Walking over to read exactly what he was in for, Booth once again had to question his girlfriend's sanity. She was seriously excited about a 26 story _free fall_? It was moments like this that he realized, as much as he knew about her and understood her, she would never fail to surprise him. No, life with this woman would definitely not be boring. … The last thought he had before the world dropped out beneath him was that the view from 315 feet up was breath taking. Seconds later he was reminded what breath taking really was.

By 5:30 they were standing in line to ride Flight Deck, formerly Top Gun, which once again set the men, Max included this time, into quoting and debating various aspects of the movie that inspired the ride they were about to embark on. The girls, after realizing that the conversation wasn't likely to involve them anytime soon, took the time to catch their Aunt Tempe up on all the goings on in their lives as well as plans for a visit to DC soon for a 'girls night'.

After they got off of Flight Deck, the debate began. It was close to six and everyone was getting hungry, but there were really only two more rides they wanted to go on for the day and they would have to pass them to get to the food anyways. Eventually Brennan's logical argument won out over the protests of some of the others. They would ride the last two rides while the lines were thinned for dinner time and eat afterwards. By the time the debate was settled, they had reached the line for Congo Falls and a new one began. The adults were reluctant to get wet again so close to dinner and the kids were determined that if they were going to get wet, _everyone_ should. Emma, having once again noticed something the adults seemed to overlook, came up with a plan to get them wet whether or not they actually got on the ride. She slowly moved the group towards the bottom of the waterfall and when the next car passed by, all eight were soaked by the resulting spray. Figuring that they were already wet, the adults decided they may as well enjoy the ride. Booth, having noticed Emma's actions silently applauded her and idly hoped that she would use her intelligence and powers of observation for good, and not follow the majority of Bones' family into a life of crime.

They made their way through the line for the final 'new' ride of the night ringing the water from their clothing and hair. Since the kids weren't tall enough to ride this one either, Max offered to take them on Congo Falls again and let the two couples enjoy Invertigo.

*~BONES~*

Dinner was a nice chance for all to sit and relax in the air conditioning of Stunt Crew Grill. They were seated at their table and had ordered by a quarter to seven. Three beers, two salads, four burgers, two BBQ pork and one chicken sandwich later, the group exited the restaurant and headed back towards International Street and the shops to pick out souvenirs and pass the time until the firework show.

Once back up towards the front gate, Amy once again felt the need to document the first real family trip and spent several minutes arranging various groupings of family in front of the fountain and King's Island sign. Eventually Russ managed to distract her enough for Booth and Brennan to make their escape to the Eiffel Tower.

The view from the top of the tower was amazing. There was a clear view of the surrounding park and forested area through the deepening twilight. Booth and Brennan found a spot overlooking International Street and the fountain and simply watched, her back to his chest, as the people below ambled around and the sun sank behind the horizon and the colorful lights of the fountain sprang to life. Just as the last rays of the sun disappeared from view, Booth turned Bones around and kissed her. As they broke apart for much needed air, she chastised herself silently for thinking that the best four minutes of the day would be that first ride on The Beast. _This_ was so much better than any roller coaster.

When they finally made their way down to the ground, Booth called the others on the walkie talkie to meet up with them to watch the fireworks. Before they got very far though, Brennan was pulling him into a store front. He stood amused and watched as she analyzed the choices of treats before her much like she did remains in her lab. Finally nodding once to herself, she bought an assortment of the mouthwatering fudge.

"You gonna share any of that or do I need to buy my own?"

"Of course I will share," she countered in her ever logical tone of voice. Seeing the hopeful look in his eye, she barely managed to keep a straight face as she continued with, "Angela, Hodgins, Sweets, and Cam should enjoy this much better than some overpriced knickknack."

Booth was shocked for a moment before he noticed the teasing glint in her eye and the minute way the corner of her lips kept creeping up, just slightly. "You're just evil, you know that Bones?"

As the couple exited the store, Brennan sprinted across the street into yet another store front. Before Booth even had time to register that it was an ice cream shop, Brennan was asking what flavor she should get for Parker. She would never cease to amaze him. As much as she protested to the contrary, she was a natural with children, his son in particular, and he could close his eyes and picture the way she would be with their kids. Shaking himself from his fantasy, he answered and helped her carry the eight servings of ice cream to the spot her family had found to sit and enjoy the show.

The treats were distributed not a minute too late, as the sky exploded into noise and light just as Brennan settled herself between her brother and partner. All watched in awe, their melting treats momentarily forgotten, as the brilliant reds and blues, greens and whites reflected off their upturned faces.

Once the show was over and the now half melted ice cream was eaten, the tired group wearily made their way back to the cars and the hotel for the night. Once there, Booth once again carried a sleeping Parker to the room and settled him in bed while Brennan changed into her pjs in the bathroom. When she returned, Booth was curled up in the middle of the bed half asleep. With a not so gentle shove and mumbled "move over" she crawled beneath the covers and was practically unconscious by the time her head hit the pillow. She didn't, however, miss the half garbled "love ya, Bones" uttered by Booth as he pulled her against his body and rested his head against hers, and was too far gone to notice she didn't feel the customary fear at hearing those words directed at her.

*~BONES~*

* * *

Author's Notes: I would first like to apologize for it taking this long to get this written and posted and thank those of you who have been looking forward to this for reading it. I would also like to thank everyone who gave me Emma's name.

I want to specifically thank kaylee-jane-potter for giving me ideas about Kings Island for the story specifically (the Eiffel tower kiss, LaRosa's, and Graeter's ice cream).

Next, I know Russ and Amy probably aren't really married, but I figured they live together and probably consider themselves practically married.

Oh, and the part about Emma busting her nose on The Beast … it really did happen, to me, when I first rode the ride. It was still an awesome roller coaster though.


End file.
